Ultimate Weapon
by hinatasgreatestfan
Summary: Naruto finds a weapon that speaks to him, in more ways than one.  Warning:  Character Death!
1. Naruto's Sword

Author Note: To make two things clear: Naruto is 12 in this fic at the start. I won't be addressing that in text; so Hinata and the rookie group have just graduated, and Tenten, Lee, and Neji are 13. Also, this is a second challenge fic for me.

Challenge Info: Naruto finds a sword in the woods, and when he picks it up, he is startled when it talks to him. The sword's name is Shape-Shifter, and, like his name implies, he can take any form he wants. The sword befriends Naruto, and makes a deal with him: if he can learn to wield him properly, Shape-Shifter will help him gain true happiness. The main problem with this is that Shape-Shifter changes his form at least thirty times a day, due to getting bored with staying in one form for too long, and he is stubborn as well, so Naruto must learn to think the way Shape-Shifter does, and be prepared for whenever he changes form on him. While he will allow Naruto to choose a form for him to turn into, he won't change into it if Naruto can't think of something 'satisfying' to be. Rating: anything you want it to be. Pairing: NaruHina.

Now that that's out of the way, enjoy! And yes, I know I changed where he found it, the challenger is fine with that.

Chapter 1

Naruto had come to a realization of late. Namely, that he had a problem. What problem could the best shinobi in Konoha have, you're asking? Well, in a nutshell, his problem was his taijutsu. Or rather, his lack thereof. He wasn't bad at thinking on the fly and launching attacks when least expected, but as for a style? Not happening. He'd tried several of late, and absolutely none of them had worked. That's how he found himself where he was now. The blond knucklehead found himself in a weapons shop. He'd thought long and hard about his problem, and, in spite of being a ninjutsu specialist, he had decided to try mastering a weapon, namely a bladed one, to cover his taijutsu weakness. He'd decided to try for a half-length blade.

Naruto almost chuckled at himself. Since when did he think of "covering his weaknesses" and such? Oh well, he didn't really care. He knew a certain kunoichi, Tenten, who would be willing to train him in a blade; all he had to do was find one. So it was that he was here looking at weapons in a small shop. He had been wandering around a slum of Konoha when he happened upon a large sign declaring "WEAPONS", so he went to investigate. He had found everything in here from kunai (damn good ones too), shuriken (again, very good quality), and exploding tags and the like to clubs and full-length swords (all of excellent quality or better). But what he was looking for was a half-length blade, not a full-length one. And naturally, he hadn't seen even one of those. Well, this was certainly frustrating.

As he wandered around the shop, he kept catching a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye, but when he'd look where he thought it was coming from, it would be gone. He shrugged. As it happened, his movement brought him closer and closer to whatever he was glimpsing until he was right where he thought it was. He still couldn't pinpoint it, though. He sighed; that was getting annoying, and the lack of what he was looking for was getting old too. He saw whatever it was he kept half-seeing again. This time he turned and spotted something. And what he saw was quite shocking.

It was a half-length blade, just what he'd been looking for since he came in here. That was irritating, but that wasn't what was so shocking about it. The blade was nothing special when you first looked at it, just a half-blade sword, no point, a typical handle, though the handle seemed just a bit long for a sword that size. The end of the handle was carved in the shape of an open eye. Like everything else in the shop, this blade was exquisite to say the least. The weapon seemed to have been carved, blade and handle together, from a single piece of metal. The handle was wrapped in the finest leather Naruto had ever seen. The guard, also that same metal, jutted out from the blade and went in a swirl much like the ones Naruto had on his jacket. That would have been enough to catch his eye if the blade had not already done so. It had, however, done so long before he even noticed the design of the guard or the leather on the grip. The blade itself had caught his eye. It was blue. It was the same blue as Naruto's eyes, in fact. That's what he'd been spotting out of the corner of his eye all along. That odd blue color had been distracting him for some time now; now that he had found the source, though, he decided that he was going to get this weapon. He grinned; mission accomplished.

He went over and wrapped his hand around the grip of the weapon and got an all-new shock. Well, first off, there was a small electrical shock when he touched it, in spite of the leather, but secondly, the eye on the end of the pommel seemed to be staring at him. Then he heard it.

"Hello, young man." Naruto looked around, trying to find the source of the voice. He saw no one anywhere near him; the only other person in the shop was the proprietor, and this voice was obviously not his. He was probably 90, and this voice was that of a much younger man, maybe even a woman, given the high pitch of the words. Naruto looked at the sword and the eye was looking straight at him. "Yes, that was me you heard," the voice said; Naruto dropped the sword. "OW!" It said, rather annoyed. "What did you have to do that for? Come on, pick me up."

Naruto wasn't sure what to do at first, but he eventually leaned over and picked up the sword. "What in the world are you?" he asked it.

"My name is Shape-Shifter. I've been trying to catch your eye ever since you came in here. I just didn't know what in the world you wanted. Please, get me the hell out of here," the sword's voice said. Naruto found he rather liked the voice; it was rather imperious at moments, but pleasant for the most part.

"What's in it for me?" he asked; he wasn't being rude, he was just curious.

"If you'll get me the hell out of this shop, you'll be able to wield me, both in practice and battle. And I'm quite the weapon, seeing as I can turn into whatever the hell you want me to, or whatever I want to," the last part was said with a bit of a snicker. "And if you take me, no one but you will be able to wield me unless you either die or prove yourself unworthy to wield me."

"And what would I need to do to remain worthy of you?" Again, Naruto was just curious. He had already decided to take the sword up on its offer.

"Well, remain loyal to your village, your friends, things like that, and always do what you believe is right," the sword answered. "I think that's about it, really. I may not have many standards, but I'm not very lenient on the ones I have either, just so you know."

Naruto chuckled. "You've got a deal. Do you have a sheath here somewhere?" The eye seemed to look at one that was laying under where the sword had been hanging. Naruto picked it up and saw it was the right size for the sword; he slid the sword into it and carried both to the checkout counter. The proprietor looked at him. "How much for this sword?"

The man looked at the blade a moment, then suddenly realized what it was. "By all means, you can take that. I was hoping someone would take it. If you want it, it's yours. Wield it well, young man."

Naruto was surprised, but he wasn't about to argue about that. "Awesome! You're the best! Thanks!" he said, and with that, he left, carrying his new weapon. After he was a little away from the shop, Naruto looked at the sword in his hands and chuckled. "I'd always heard the best things in life are free. Looks like it's true, huh?"

"I'll take that as a compliment," Shape-Shifter answered his rather rhetorical question. "Oh, and by the way, no one but you can hear me, so don't talk to me too much or people will think you're nuts. Now, I need a stretch." So saying, the sword extended itself until it was longer than Naruto was tall, then shrank until it was no longer than a kunai. "Ah, that felt good," it said, chuckling.

"Wait a minute," Naruto said. "I know you just got a lot bigger, so why didn't you get heavier; or lighter when you got smaller for that matter?" The only thing still the same about the weapon, the eye in its handle, looked up at Naruto.

"Well, see, I only have a certain amount of material to work with. I can change into whatever the hell I want, so don't worry, but no matter what I am, be it kunai, club, sword, half-sword, or house-and yes I can do that-I'll weigh the same amount. Want to really impress someone, pick me up when I'm in my house form. They'll wonder when you got so strong," the sword said, chuckling. Naruto smiled; he already liked the sword. He hoped he'd continue to get along with it as well as he had so far. "Anyway, I'll change into things you suggest-which you can do just by picturing what you want me to be and gripping my pommel-but only if I find the form satisfying. Oh, and be careful, the metal I'm made from has some rather unique properties. That's why it's blue. But I'll tell you about those later." Naruto swore, if the sword had a tongue, it would have been sticking it out at him at that part. He laughed.

"Well, Shape-Shifter, I'll see what I can do about giving you satisfying forms in the future. And as for the special qualities of your metal, I'm sure we can cover that in time. For now, though, just stay in your kunai form, all right? I need to get you home for now."

"All right. Just don't take too long," it said.

Naruto nodded, stuffed the kunai in his pouch, and headed for home. When he got there, he took the blue blade from his pouch and set it against a wall. It immediately morphed into a rope javelin, the eye on the handle, the metal stretched into the rope as well as the blade on the end. Naruto chuckled and shook his head at it. This was certainly going to be an interesting weapon to learn to wield. He thought a moment, then realized that if he learned to truly wield this weapon, he would be nearly invincible; after all, it could turn into literally anything it wanted. There's no weapon out there that doesn't have a weakness, so if he could learn the counters for each weapon, he could turn this one into that counter if he faced a weapon, and bingo. He chuckled. And having seemingly found a new friend in the mix didn't hurt, either. He smiled at that thought. Then he started to laugh. Soon he was laying on the floor, crying from laughing so hard. The weapon, which was now in the form of a club with spikes extruding from it, looked over at him.

"What is so funny, you lunatic?" it asked him.

Naruto, still laughing uproariously, gasped out, "I never thought I would find myself friends with a sword, or a club for that matter." The last part was added as he saw the weapon's current form. As he thought of that, he laughed even louder than before. For some reason, the expression "join the club" went through his head at the idea of being friends with one, which set off that new wave of laughing.

It took Naruto about an hour to calm down enough to do anything normal. Once he had, he got up and went to get his shower and crawled into bed. He laughed quietly to himself about his new friend even as he was falling asleep.

The next afternoon, Naruto could be seen walking through Konoha's streets with a new weapon strapped on his back. For some reason, it had been quiet this morning, and it seemed satisfied at present to hang on his back as a sword about the length of Naruto's arm. It seemed to know that changing shape where others could see was probably not a good idea just now, so it retained its form with only a few grumbles of boredom. Naruto was already rather adept at ignoring those.

Naruto was meeting Tenten today to show her the new weapon and ask her if she'd help him train with it. From a little research (namely, asking Hinata who asked Neji) he had learned that Team Gai trained at Training Ground 60 every morning and stopped about two in the afternoon, so he was on his way there now.

Arriving at the training ground, Naruto didn't know he had an audience (Hinata was following him). He saw Neji, Lee, and Tenten packing up to leave. He called out, "Hey, Tenten!" She looked up and saw Naruto. She didn't know the boy well, but she didn't hate him. She gave him a friendly smile.

"What's up, Naruto?" She noticed the sword on his back. "New sword? Where did you get that?"

Naruto pulled it out and showed it to her. She gasped when she saw the blue blade, never mind the exquisite quality of the weapon. Then Naruto chuckled and a moment later, he was holding a club, then a rope javelin, then a mace, all of them blue. Tenten looked at the blond boy with a curious expression.

"Don't ask. Just know that it's all one weapon. I was hoping you could help teach me how to wield it." Tenten thought about this a moment, then nodded. Tenten heard a small movement in a bush and chuckled, recognizing the movement as Hinata's.

"Tell you what, Naruto, I'll help you train with this on one condition." Naruto looked at her, apprehensive but curious. Tenten pointed at the bush where she knew Hinata was then leaned in and whispered to Naruto. "Go over to that bush and ask out the person hiding there. She can help you train, too; hell, I'll train you both if you want." Naruto looked at Tenten like she was insane. Tenten just chuckled. "Don't worry, Naruto, I know who's over there; she'll say yes if you ask her out, I know; hell, she's been wanting you to ask her out for years. Plus, I think you'll find her very pleasant to be around if you give her a chance." Naruto still thought Tenten was insane, but he finally nodded and went over to the bush she had pointed at.

Parting the bush, Naruto looked in and saw Hinata standing there, a blush on her face at being found. "Oh, it's you, Hinata. What are you doing here?" Hinata fainted. Naruto wasn't sure what to do, so he just picked her up and carried her out into the clearing, where Tenten was waiting for him. "I asked her what she was doing here and she fainted," he explained to Tenten. "When she comes to, I'll ask her on a date, fair?" Tenten smiled and nodded. "All right, then, while it's still a sword, what can you teach me about that?"

Half an hour later, Naruto was annoyed as hell with the weapon. It had changed at random from a sword to a club to the rope javelin it seemed to like so much to, at one point, a two-by-four plank. Naruto had to laugh at that one, but it was getting frustrating never knowing what the weapon was going to turn into next. Once, when Tenten was showing him how to do a sword maneuver, the contrary thing turned into a box. Another time, when she was showing him how to use the rope javelin, it turned into a club. That one resulted in him smacking himself in the face with it. Luckily, it didn't have spikes that time, or he would have had a serious problem. Finally, after half an hour of very annoying training and Tenten laughing a good bit, Hinata finally woke up.

Naruto heard Hinata's voice as she awoke and muttered something. He looked over at her and smiled. She actually was cute when she was waking up like that. The confused look on her face just made her all the cuter. He had a sudden urge to hug her for some reason, but shook it off. He walked over to her.

"Hey, Hinata," he said, smiling. Hinata looked up and, seeing Naruto, blushed deeply. Her fingers started to press into one another. Naruto chuckled. "Hey, Hinata, I was actually wondering, would you like to go out on a date with me sometime?"

Hinata gasped. Was this real? Naruto had just asked her on a date? And had done so in those exact words at that. She pinched herself; when nothing changed, she had no choice but to guess it was real. "I'd love to!" she answered, surprising herself that she didn't stutter at all. "But, I thought you liked Sakura, Naruto?" She was almost hoping he wouldn't answer that.

"Well, I do, but she's so hung up on Sasuke, I know I have no chance there. Besides, Tenten's training me, she offered to train you too, by the way, and she said if she was going to train me, I had to ask you out. Plus, you're really pretty and I would be truly honored if you'd let me take you out," Naruto said, smiling one of his true smiles at the shy girl.

Hinata processed what he had said, thinking over all of it. So he realized that he had no chance with Sakura. That was good. Tenten had told him to ask her out? That was surprising, but she shrugged it off. The last part, he had said she was pretty and that he really wanted to go out with her! She smiled, blushing. "It would be my pleasure, Naruto," she told him.

"Good. And would you like to train with us too? Tenten said she'd be happy to train you, too, if you want." Hinata nodded at that. Naruto held a hand out to her to help her up; she took it and let him help her. He released her hand far too soon for her taste, but she didn't complain. The two walked back over to Tenten to resume training; on their way, Naruto showed Hinata his new weapon and explained that it could change shape. Like Tenten, Hinata was curious where he got the weapon. Naruto chuckled at that as the two rejoined Tenten. "Well, it seems you two are both curious where I got this. After we're done here, I'll take you both by there, all right? Maybe you could get some new stuff there, too; they have really good weapons there."

Tenten was curious how he knew what a good weapon was, but given the quality of the one he had, maybe he had an eye for such things. She and Hinata both agreed to go there after training, and the three got back to said training.

After another hour, another very frustrating hour for Naruto and a very amusing one for Tenten and Hinata, the three were ready to go. This time, the only really irritating change the weapon had made was when Naruto was trying a club maneuver and the thing had turned into its rope javelin form; this resulted in Naruto getting his legs caught in the "rope" and falling flat on his face. Tenten had laughed uproariously at this, and even Hinata had giggled at it. Naruto, though annoyed, realized it was funny and chuckled with them. Once they were all ready, Naruto somehow convinced the weapon to turn into a kunai again and stuffed it in his pouch, trusting it to stay that way for a while at least.

Naruto led the two girls across town into the slum area where he'd found the shop. He went straight to it and found it easily. He led them in. Tenten in particular was surprised; these were the finest quality blades she'd ever seen. Naruto certainly knew how to pick them. Hinata ended up buying a handful of kunai and a few shuriken, and Tenten found a small scythe somewhere and bought that. They all told the proprietor that they'd be back again and left.

Naruto walked Tenten home first, then he and Hinata walked off together. Once the two were alone, Hinata turned to Naruto. "You know, you don't have to take me out if you don't want to, Naruto. I won't be offended if you don't want to," she said, her nervousness getting the better of her.

Naruto chuckled. "Don't worry about it, Hinata. I really do think you're pretty, and I'd love to get to know you better, so taking you out is perfectly natural. As for Tenten, she-" he was cut off as he heard his pouch rip. "Ugh, that stupid thing." He picked up his kunai and shuriken and put them in his other pouch, then looked at the only thing still on the ground. Shape-Shifter had chosen a hell of a time to morph into a mace. His left pouch was ruined; he'd have to replace that now. As he glared at the weapon, it turned into a metallic version of Hinata, about six inches tall. Naruto chuckled. Then it turned into the half-length sword it had been when he found it, sheath and all; Naruto picked it up and put it on his back, then turned back to Hinata. "Come on, let's get you home, so I can get this stupid thing home before it destroys something else," he said, smiling.

"All right. So, anyway, what were you saying about Tenten?" Hinata asked.

"Honestly, I don't remember what I was saying. But really, don't worry about her, I would have refused if I hadn't been willing to take you out anyway. So when should we go? Tomorrow night?" He was still smiling at Hinata, who was blushing furiously.

Hinata smiled at Naruto and answered, "Tomorrow night would be great, Naruto." As she said this, they arrived at the Hyuga Estate. "Well, this is my stop. I'll see you tomorrow night, all right, Naruto?"

Naruto chuckled. "Sure, see you tomorrow, Hinata." As the two parted, Hinata into her home and Naruto down the road toward his home, both were thinking the same thing, though for two different reasons. They were both thinking that the future was going to be very interesting indeed. Hinata was thinking this because of her impending date, and Naruto was thinking it because of his new weapon. Neither one knew just how right they were.


	2. The Beginning of Something Beautiful

Chapter 2

Naruto chuckled. He had a date with Hinata in about an hour, and here he was, trying to train with his new weapon. If only the damn thing would cooperate, it might be easier. But no, every time he'd try to use a sword move, it would turn into a club or something, and every time he'd try a club move, he'd end up swinging a rope javelin. This was getting aggravating. He'd noticed that when he DID get a move off without the dang thing changing, his accuracy and efficiency of motion were enhanced by the weapon itself, it seemed. But when the thing changed in mid motion, it simply ruined both, since it turned into something for which the motion made no sense.

"All right, Shape-Shifter, what's wrong?" Naruto asked, glad, not for the first time, that he was alone with the stupid thing. He was looking forward to having the weapon with him on his first C-rank mission, whenever that came, but he was less than thrilled with its contrary attitude. If that kept up, he'd end up trying to block a sword move with a vase or something.

"I'm just bored. I told you, I change forms when I get bored, and you're boring the hell out of me right now, so I'm shifting forms to make up for it," the weapon responded. "I mean, come on, kid, you're supposed to be a ninja, so when am I going to get to cut someone? Not this goofy training stump, I want to feel myself go through flesh." The weapon's voice seemed almost sadistic as it said this.

"I am a ninja, and I actually have my first C-rank mission coming up soon, unless I miss my guess, but seriously, I'm only twelve. I haven't even been in any serious fights as yet. And I won't likely have to fight any enemy ninja for a while yet. It's possible, I suppose, but not likely. But in the meantime, don't you think I should be ready for when something does happen, so I know how to use whatever you might turn into so you don't have to try to find a new wielder when I get killed because you turned into something I can't use?"

The weapon, currently in the form of a small club, looked up at Naruto with its eye. "You make a good point, kid. All right, but please, try to give me some interesting forms to be. And if you don't, I'll come up with my own," it said, chuckling. "Oh, and you might want to call out our little eavesdropper."

Naruto was confused. Eavesdropper? Was someone watching him? Who? "What do you mean? Someone's listening in on me? Who?"

Morphing into what looked like a compass, Shape-Shifter pointed toward where Hinata was hiding in a nearby bush. Naruto was still confused. "I believe it's the one you call Hinata. She's been hiding there since you got here. I'm just saying it would probably be easier to have her out in the open where you could talk to her rather than having her in that bush. Hell, maybe she can help you train too."

Naruto chuckled at the compass in his hand, then turned toward the bush. "Hinata, are you there? If that's you, please come out." Naruto heard a rather loud eep, and a few moments later, Hinata walked out of the bush, blushing bright red. Naruto smiled at her, hoping to make her feel more comfortable, and, he admitted to himself, because she really was cute when she blushed like that. "Hi, Hinata," Naruto said, then chuckled. Hinata walked over and stood in front of him. "Following me around again?"

Hinata blushed, then nodded. "I'm sorry, Naruto. If you'd rather I not come around, I'll understand. I just always feel better when I'm around you," Hinata said; her voice was quiet, but the stutter was gone.

Naruto rolled his eyes, and told her, "Hinata, I asked you on a date, remember? If I didn't want you around, I wouldn't have done that. Just, from now on, when you follow me, don't hide, all right? Just come on out and talk to me."

"Come on, coward, tell her you think she's hot," Shape-Shifter said, making Naruto blush. Hinata saw his blush and giggled, not knowing why he was blushing. "And that was just adorable and you know it," the spear in Naruto's hand said. Naruto's blush deepened, though he didn't deny what the weapon said.

Hinata smiled at Naruto's blush. "Naruto, why are you blushing?" Naruto jumped a little at the sound of her voice and blushed deeper when he realized what was going on. Then he remembered Hinata couldn't hear the weapon and sighed.

Naruto indicated the weapon in his hand, now a blade only slightly larger than a kunai. "Just something this stupid thing said. He was just being a pain in the neck as usual."

Hinata, her curiosity getting the better of her, just had to ask. "What did he say?"

Naruto had been hoping she wouldn't ask that. "He was goading me, trying to get me to tell you I think you're hot," he said, suddenly unable to meet Hinata's eyes. After a moment, he looked at her and found her smiling cutely. "Not that it isn't true, mind you, you are very pretty, Hinata. I was just blushing because I was embarrassed that he'd say that." Hinata gasped at his words and blushed a little. "And he was saying your giggle is adorable, which it is; though I'd add that your blush is, too." While saying this, Naruto was moving toward Hinata. He smiled at her as he came to within his arm's reach of her. "And I can't wait for our date tonight, Hinata. For now, though, would you like to help me train?"

Hinata gasped again. He was asking for her help? Well, this was Naruto, after all, and there was no way she could ever refuse him anything he asked of her, so she looked up at him and nodded. "If you really think I can help you, Naruto, it would be my pleasure. I just hope I won't get in your way."

Naruto smiled. "I'm sure you won't get in the way, Hinata. Hey, maybe once I get a little better with this thing, we'll see if you can wield it, too. If you can, we can train together with it. That would make us a hell of a team, wouldn't it?"

Hinata found Naruto's smile very infectious, as well as his optimism. "That would be something, Naruto. If you really want to share it with me, it would be my honor," she said, giving Naruto a grin to rival his own fox-like ones.

Naruto was a little surprised; after all, no one had ever said doing something with him would be an honor, but then again, this was Hinata. She was the kindest one in his class, so he really shouldn't have been surprised. He smiled. "Well, if you're able to wield it, it would be my pleasure to train with you with it, Hinata."

"Give me to her," Shape-Shifter suddenly spoke up. "I'll see if she is as worthy to wield me as you are. If she is, then she'll be able to hear me speak as easily as you can from now on; if not, better to not get her hopes up, right?"

Naruto chuckled. The weapon had a point. He held it out to Hinata, who looked confused. "Take it, Hinata. It's going to see if you're worthy to wield it. This way, we'll know. I hope you can use him some day. It would make things interesting, that's for sure."

Hinata hesitated, then reached out and took the sword in her hand. She felt a slight shock, like when you've been walking on carpet a long time and touch a metal doorknob. She pulled back, then tried again. This time, she was able to heft the weapon. It was currently a sword that was about as long as her arm; she fell into a natural stance with it in hand. Then she heard it. A voice, rather effeminate in nature.

"Well, well, this is a first," it said, chuckling. Hinata realized after a moment that the sword in her hand was talking, and that both she and Naruto could hear it. "I've never had two wielders at once before. But it seems you two are both worthy to wield me, so now you can both hear my voice."

Hinata and Naruto were both rather pleased with this result, and both smiled. Naruto took the sword back from Hinata; as he did, it turned into a rope javelin again. "You really like being a rope javelin, don't you?" Naruto asked it, chuckling.

"Well sure. It's a very satisfying form to take. I'm more flexible like this than just about any other form I take, yet I still have a potentially deadly blade on the end. It's an awesome feeling," the now-javelin said.

Naruto stepped back a way and started to swing the javelin in a circular motion above his head, making it look like a circular shield to anyone looking. Then he threw it, purely on instinct, and found that it went exactly where he wanted it to. It ended up wrapped around one of the training logs about twenty times. He smiled. "Awesome," he muttered, mostly to himself. Hinata, watching, agreed. And both could see why the weapon liked that form.

Naruto pictured a club a moment, which the weapon turned into to unravel itself from the stump, then it turned into a plank, like it had the day before. Naruto chuckled at that. After a moment, he had it turn into its half-sword form again and slid it into its sheath and slid that onto his back. "This is probably the best form for you to take when we're traveling. No one will notice you like that, and I can carry you there easier than anywhere else."

"All right. I think I can manage to stay in this form when you're moving. Just be warned, I may stretch or compress from time to time. That way I can at least do something."

Naruto chuckled. "Fair enough. Now," he said, turning to Hinata. "Shall we?" He held out his arm to her. She blushed, then put her hand on the crook of his elbow. Naruto smiled. "Let us embark then, my lady." Hinata blushed at being called that; the two walked off together, chuckling about the training they'd undergone that day.

Hinata, her curious side getting the better of her again as she walked, AFTER she got over the whole "her hand on Naruto's arm" thing, that is, looked at the sword hanging on Naruto's back. Its eye looked back at her. "So, your name is Shape-Shifter then?" The eye moved in an up-and-down motion, its equivalent of a nod. "Well, why don't you tell us about yourself, so we know what we're getting into here?" She felt rather brave, considering. She guessed it was because Naruto was with her.

Speaking of Naruto, he chuckled at Hinata's comment, then said to the sword, "Yeah, you told me you had some special properties of some kind and that we'd go over them later. Well, now you have to go over them with me and Hinata here, so you might as well do it now."

As the three talked, Naruto and Hinata were walking around the village aimlessly. By now, they had passed Naruto's building twice and the Hyuga Estate once, never noticing either. Both were too involved with the other's presence to notice where they were. The sword closed its eye, seemingly smiling, then told them both, "All right. But let's get somewhere where people won't wonder about your sanity as you talk to yourselves."

Naruto chuckled. The thing might be annoying, but it did have a point there. "All right," he said, then turned to his date. "Let's go get some dinner, then I'll show you a secret place of mine and we can talk to this goofy thing," he told her, indicating the sword on his back at the last.

"Goofy, am I?" Shape-Shifter said, acting offended. Then he suddenly turned into a very long pole, like the ones used by pole-vaulters. Naruto found himself dangling at the top of it, about twenty feet from the ground.

"Okay, okay, sorry," he said, his eyes closed tight. "Please, put me down." Naruto wasn't comfortable with heights, to say the least. The pole chuckled, then slowly shrank back to its sword form, lowering Naruto slowly to the ground in the process. Naruto rolled his eyes in annoyance. He turned to Hinata again. "Anyway, now that that embarrassment is over, shall we?" He held his arm out to her again.

Hinata would never be able to answer what came over her next. She suddenly felt very brave. She reached out and linked her arm with Naruto's, her elbow meeting his. She blushed at her own action, but when Naruto didn't object, she stayed there. So it was that the two of them walked into Ichiraku's with their arms linked.

What happened next belongs in history books. There are even record books vying for this particular event. Naruto and Hinata sat down together. Teuchi, the proprietor of the ramen stand, smiled at his favorite customer. Then he noticed Hinata and gave her a smile of her own. "What can I get you two tonight?" he asked.

Hinata, who had never eaten ramen before, gave a shy smile, "I'll have whatever you recommend, sir."

Naruto ordered a bowl of miso ramen for a start. A few minutes later, both bowls were served. Hinata's turned out to be miso as well. She took a hesitant bite and got a shock at how good it was. Naruto hadn't even taken a single bite yet when he looked over and saw Hinata finishing off her broth. He was, to say the least, stunned. She had eaten that bowl faster than even he could have done. He laid into his own bowl and finished it off at speed for him. Then he turned to Hinata. "Want another?" he asked her. Hinata, still somewhat in shock of how good the ramen had turned out to be, smiled at Naruto and nodded.

Teuchi, who had seen the whole display, smiled at Hinata. "Tell you what, young lady, you just accomplished something no one in this whole village has ever done before. You just finished a bowl of my ramen faster than Naruto here. Literally, no one in the village has ever done that. So I'll tell you what," at this he looked at both Naruto and Hinata. "If you can do that again, tonight's whole meal is on the house."

Naruto grinned at that idea, then turned to Hinata, "I won't go easy on you, Hinata. Think you can keep up?"

Hinata thought a moment, then realized how fast she had eaten the first bowl. She grinned at Naruto, feeling very confident all of a sudden. "You're on, Naruto."

Teuchi grinned; this was going to be interesting. He made two more bowls of ramen, identical to the first two, then turned and set them in front of his favorite two customers. Yes, he had decided to include Hinata in that already. After all, who but one of his favorites should ever outdo his favorite? He grinned at both, then made a cutting motion with his hand. "GO!" he said, starting them off.

That's when it happened. The event for the record books. Hinata and Naruto started eating their bowls of ramen. Naruto was eating faster than he ever had before and yet, he wasn't even halfway done with his bowl when Hinata let out a satisfied sigh as she finished her broth. Naruto looked over to check her progress when he was about halfway done and his jaw dropped so fast he lost the noodles he was eating as he saw she was done. Naruto looked at Teuchi. The old man was smiling.

"Well, I guess tonight's on the house, Naruto. It's worth it just to see that," he said, grinning at the two. "Would you like some more, then, young lady?" he asked Hinata. She nodded enthusiastically. "Care to try a different flavor?"

Hinata thought about that a moment, then nodded. "Sure. I'll give it a try."

Naruto finished his bowl at about that time. "Hinata, I'm impressed. No one has ever out-eaten me before." He grinned. "But let's see if you can keep it up for the long haul."

Hinata looked at him. That grin of his worried her a little. Then she thought to herself, _"Maybe if I beat him, I'll be one step closer to winning his heart." _At that thought, she gave Naruto a grin that anyone who didn't know her would call cocky. "You're on," she said. Naruto grinned at her.

"Old man, you better keep it coming. I think we got a serious competitor here," Naruto told Teuchi.

"A serious competitor? Oh, wow. So you mean this little lady might be a challenge for you? That'd be a first," Teuchi said. Naruto nodded and Hinata gave Teuchi a confused look. Teuchi grinned at Hinata. "The last time he got in a competition here, it was with Choji. And even Choji didn't stand a chance against the knucklehead there. If he thinks you'll be a serious challenge, he's saying you're more of one than Choji was," he told her.

Hinata was more than a little shocked by this. She'd seen how much Choji ate. Naruto had out-eaten Choji without trying? Wow. What had she gotten herself into? Then she thought about this impressing Naruto if she won again, and her resolve got even stronger. She grinned at Teuchi and Naruto. "All right, let's get this thing started," she said.

Twenty Minutes Later

Naruto was forcing down his thirtieth bowl. He was absolutely stunned Hinata had kept up with him so long, bowl for bowl. She was working on her thirtieth as well, and she didn't seem to be struggling either, unlike him. The thought crossed his mind that Hinata was going to beat him, and his resolve burned bright; he finished his current bowl and moved on to the next moments behind Hinata. He made it half-way through that bowl before he almost lost all he'd eaten so far. Hinata finished her thirty-first bowl and moved on to yet another.

Naruto watched her in shock. Teuchi was grinning at the girl. Hinata, for her part, was just enjoying the great food, Naruto's company, and the approving look from Teuchi. She didn't even notice she had gone through so many bowls until her thirty-fifth was empty. That was enough for her. She sighed, satisfied. Teuchi grinned at her. "Young lady, you just shattered Naruto's record. Not only did you out-eat the knucklehead in speed, you did it in endurance too. I am impressed," he told her. He turned to Naruto. "You've got yourself a heck of a girl here, Naruto. Don't you let her get away."

Naruto blushed at this and was about to stammer that Hinata wasn't his girl, that this was their first date, when Hinata spoke up, "Don't worry, I have no intention of ever getting away from Naruto."

Naruto's jaw dropped for the third time that night. Hinata giggled at him and Teuchi laughed loudly. Naruto pushed his mouth shut, then looked at Hinata. Sudden inspiration struck him. "So, Hinata, you think you're my girl now, do you?" As he expected, Hinata blushed and turned away from him. "Well, if that's what you want, I have no objection," he said, grinning at her as she looked at him, smiled, and nodded, her face red as a fire the whole time. He then turned to Teuchi. "Well, thanks, old man, it was excellent as always, but we gotta get going. We've got a busy night ahead of us," he said.

Teuchi grinned at his now two favorite customers and nodded. "All right, I hope I'll see both of you again soon," he said, chuckling. They both nodded at that and headed out, pushing the flaps out of their way.

Once they were a little away from the ramen stand, Naruto turned and picked Hinata up, bridal-style, and took off toward his secret place. It was a clearing he'd found up on the Hokage Mountain. Within months, he'd set it up as his own private escape. He could come here to train or just to be alone. It didn't matter what he did here, he knew no one would bother him. He was bringing Hinata here so no one would bother them while they talked to the sword, for one thing, but for another, he wanted her to know about it for some reason. He didn't know why, but having her know about his secret place just seemed right somehow.

When they got there, Hinata was surprised at how peaceful the small clearing was. It was just a clearing with a couple logs set up in the middle. The logs were obviously what Naruto had been training on; they were missing large sections of bark, for one thing. But what really got her was how quiet it was. All that she could hear there was the sound of birds. She had never thought about it before, but there was always noise in the village, so she hadn't really been able to just enjoy nature like she could here before. She smiled at it. It was nice here. It made her very reluctant to break the silence and peace by speaking.

Naruto led the girl to a certain spot on the clearing, then had her stop there. He had discovered something about this clearing by mistake, and he was going to show Hinata. He grinned as he walked to a spot on the edge of the clearing, gesturing for Hinata to stand still. Then he started walking; his path made a five-pointed star as he walked through the clearing over and over. When he got back where he started, it happened, as he knew it would. The path he had walked glowed slightly a moment, then faded; after it faded, a sound was heard from each point of the star, and a flurry of birds and butterflies took off from nearby, all of them flying near Hinata. She gasped at the multitude of colorful creatures suddenly around her. She reached out and touched one of the birds. She smiled. This was beautiful, all the colors of the rainbow dancing before her in winged form.

Naruto smiled at how happy Hinata looked to be. He realized that she really was beautiful in that moment. He came over to her. "I found that by accident once. There's a seal here that brings all these birds and butterflies in, and if you walk it just right, like I did, they all flutter around in here a while. Beautiful, isn't it?" he said to her. She nodded. "I've never shown anyone else this before. Somehow, I'm not sure why, but it just felt right to show you." Hinata blushed at that. Naruto smiled at her. Then he remembered why they were there. He led Hinata to one of the stumps and set her down at a spot he had found on it that was really comfortable, then sat in front of her on the ground. He smiled at her as he set the sword between them. She smiled back. After a few moments, the two turned to the weapon. "All right, we're alone now, no one's going to hear us or bother us here, so spill. What's the deal with you?" he asked.

The weapon grinned at him, then morphed into a four-layer fruitcake before responding. Naruto and Hinata were both puzzled by that one, so it morphed into a bo staff. "Okay, you want to know about me, I'll tell you," it said. "Before I start, just to make it clear, I won't tell you where I came from or how I was made, that's information no one here needs. However, I will tell you about my special properties and this metal I'm made from; that will help you both understand what I am and how you can use me. Deal?" Both preteens nodded. "All right. Well, first off, the metal. That's a good place to start I guess. You've already noticed the metal I'm made from is a bit different from most. Well, first off, this metal is pretty much indestructible. Imagine a chunk of iron put under the kind of heat and pressure that it takes to turn coal into a diamond. That's what created this metal." At this point, both Naruto and Hinata were hanging on his every word. "It's harder than any other metal in the world, and it's stronger than any other too. As you've probably noticed, I was carved from a single piece of it, blade, hilt, and all. That is part of why I'm able to change form so easily. But that's really all you need to know about the metal.

"As for my special properties, let me see here," he continued, then paused a moment, thinking. "Okay, first off, if you channel your chakra into me, I can use it to make my weight change either heavier or lighter. So if you need a heavy club for something, that's how you can do it. That's pretty basic though. Second, I can sense other weapon users. And whatever weapon they use, I can instantly become the perfect counter for it. So, if you're facing a weapon-user, let me choose my own form, I'll be what you need. As for when you're facing unarmed opponents, well, that's when things will be fun." He said the last part with a mischievous grin, or his equivalent thereof anyway. "You've seen how I can turn into anything. Well, for instance, that plank of wood I turned into can still act as a sword. The box can still act as a club of sorts. Then there's other changes I can make mid-move that will help too. For example, if I'm in rope javelin form and you throw me out, I can turn into a mace as I wrap the person up and end up doing some serious damage when the ball hits them. I think you get the point. In any case, if you have something specific you need, I can turn into it for you, but if not, I'll change into whatever I want. So you better be good at using a wide range of weapons.

"Anyway, moving on. The metal I'm made of is damn good at conducting chakra, so if you need to do something like that, it'll only take about a tenth the chakra you'd normally need. Hinata, I believe this would especially work well with your Gentle Fist techniques." The girl nodded at this. "Naruto, you may have to develop your own techniques for that to really help you, but if nothing else, you can make the blade wider with chakra if you're using a sword and things like that, plus add blades to things that don't have them, like if I'm a club." Naruto nodded thoughtfully at that one. "Also, here's the one that you'll both find very useful, I suspect. I can devour chakra at will. That's why I'm blue at present actually. Naruto, take me in hand a moment and activate your special chakra." Naruto took the sword in hand and accessed a bit of Kyuubi's chakra; Hinata watched this through her Byakugan, which made her very curious what she was seeing. As Shape-Shifter devoured the red chakra, he turned red himself. "See? Now I'm red because of that. And now," he took a bit of Naruto's normal blue chakra and turned back to blue. "See how that works? Whatever color chakra I eat, I take its color to myself. Sorry if you're a bit drained, Naruto." Naruto waved it off; he felt fine really. "I won't do that to you guys, that would be counter-productive, but if you need someone's chakra cut down to size or if you need to know what kind of chakra they have, you can use that to do it."

Finally, Naruto interrupted. "What other colors of chakra are there? I mean, I knew about my red chakra and I know most people's chakra is blue. What others are there?"

Shape-Shifter grinned. "There's blue and red as you've just seen. Then there's purple, which is a nasty dark chakra that comes from curse seals and the like. There's also elemental chakra, each element has a color to itself. Wind chakra is green, lightning is white, earth is brown, fire is red of course, and water is lighter-colored than normal chakra, but still blue. Oh, and fire chakra isn't as red as yours, yours is more a blood-red, while fire chakra is more the shade of fire, naturally. Anyway, moving on, I do have a few other special properties. One of which I think I should just show you. Naruto, pick me up." Naruto did. "Hinata, make the sign of the ox." Hinata did as she was told and the sword appeared in her hand. "Now, Naruto, you do it." Naruto did and it was back in his hand. "I honestly didn't know I could do that until you were both my wielders. But if either of you needs me, just make that sign and focus on me and I'll be there, no matter where you are. And if you ever both need me, I can do something similar to your Shadow Clone Jutsu, so don't worry, I can be in both places at once. Um, beyond that, I don't think there's anything else you really need to know right now. If anything else comes up, I'll let you know. Oh, be careful wielding me when I'm a sword. I tend to be sharper than any sword ever made other than me."

Once the weapon was done talking, Naruto and Hinata noticed that it was quite late. In point of fact, it was probably close to midnight. They got up, then Naruto picked up the sword in its sheath and shifted it onto his back, held his arm out to Hinata, who took it like before, and the trio walked out of the clearing. After dropping Hinata off, Naruto went home. Both were happy with the way their first date had gone.

The next morning, Naruto and his team met at the Hokage's office to get a mission. Kakashi had decided it was time for them to have a C-rank mission. Naruto was pleased with this, especially now that he had his new weapon. Even Kakashi didn't know about the weapon yet. He knew Naruto had it, obviously, anyone could see it who looked at the blond, but no one but Hinata as yet knew what it was or what it could do.

Sarutobi grinned at the confident-looking team before him. "Well, I'd say you four are ready for a C-rank, just as Kakashi said. All right, send in our guest please." The door opened and in walked an older man, carrying a bottle of sake, with an odd straw hat on his head. He was about Kakashi's height, but he walked with a noticeable slump, so he looked much shorter. Naruto gave him an odd look, but kept quiet. Kakashi appraised him, also quietly. Sasuke grunted in acknowledgment of his presence, and Sakura just ogled Sasuke, as usual. After spending last night with Hinata and seeing how she wanted to stand with him, not behind him like Sakura wanted with Sasuke, Naruto was wondering what in the world he ever saw in Sakura. He shook his head at his thoughts, then turned his attention back to the old man.

"I'm supposed to trust my life to these four? They look like snot-nosed brats, especially the one with a chicken's ass for hair." It took Sasuke a second to realize he'd just been insulted, by which time Sarutobi had interrupted.

"Yes, Tazuna, they'll be your escort. And they're all ninja, regardless of appearance, so don't make the mistake of underestimating them. Kakashi, you and your team are to escort Tazuna here back to Wave Country and protect him while he builds his bridge there. Here's the details," Sarutobi said, tossing a scroll to Kakashi, who caught it easily.

"We will protect you with our lives, Tazuna. You have my word," Kakashi told him. Tazuna seemed only slightly mollified by this, but he nodded. "All right team, we leave at 8:00 in the morning. Meet at the front gate at that time, and be packed for at least a month's journey. And this time, don't be late; I won't." With that, Kakashi vanished in a cloud of smoke. The three preteens shook their heads at his antics, then the three left to prepare for their journey. Sasuke and Sakura packed their things and went to bed (not together, you perverts).

Naruto, however, had one more thing he needed to do. After all, after last night, he wasn't single now, was he? He had to let Hinata know he'd be leaving in the morning. He went to the Hyuga home, and sure enough, there she was, just about to go in. He called out to her and she smiled when she turned and saw him.

Naruto ran up to her. "Hey, Hinata, I just needed to let you know I'll be leaving in the morning. My team got our first C-rank mission today," Naruto told her, grinning proudly.

Hinata smiled, then had a thought. She rushed forward, hugging Naruto hard. She whispered, "Promise me you'll be safe, Naruto, promise me you'll come back to me." Naruto hugged her back.

When they separated, he smiled at her. "I'll be safe, I promise. We're leaving at 8:00 in the morning from the main gate. You'll be there to see us off, right?"

"Of course. I wouldn't miss it," she said. She hugged him again, then rushed into her family home, smiling. Naruto went home, a smile on his face as well.

The next morning, Naruto and his team had met about 7:45, with the exception of Kakashi, who did show up on time, but wasn't early. Naruto talked to Hinata while they waited; she had been there since 7:30. She wasn't about to miss them. When Kakashi showed up, he and his team, along with their client, headed out at a steady pace toward their destination. None of them, except maybe Tazuna, had any idea the dangers or adventures that awaited them.


	3. Battles of the Bloody Mist

Chapter 3

Hinata

Hinata knew that Naruto had left the village not too long ago. So why was she now getting called to the Hokage's office? And why just her? She knocked on the door and entered when given permission.

"You called f-for m-me, Lord Hokage?" she said softly.

"Ah, yes, Hinata," Sarutobi said kindly. "I have a mission for you. You know Team 7 went to Wave Country on their first C-Rank mission, yes?" Hinata nodded. Of course she knew that. "Well, they left about an hour ago. I just now realized, however, that other than Sasuke there's no one with them who is a member of any of our prominent clans. For obvious reasons, Sasuke hardly qualifies for that now. So it was suggested to me that I send you, since you are the Hyuga heir. I see good sense in this, so that is your mission. Meet up with Team 7 and assist them in any way possible. Your official purpose on the mission will be diplomat. Understood?"

Hinata bowed deeply. "Understood, Lord Hokage."

"Good. Go home, pack, and leave immediately. You should be able to catch up to them fairly easily as they are going to be walking at civilian speeds." Sarutobi clapped once and an ANBU member appeared. "You will escort Miss Hyuga until she meets up with Team Seven."

Hinata and the ANBU bowed and left. Within five minutes, she was ready and within ten they were out the gate. They ran, but they stayed to the ground so as to track Team 7 (and, more specifically, Naruto and Shape-Shifter) more easily. Hinata was surprised when she hadn't caught up to them four hours later, but she didn't think much of it.

Naruto

Naruto was feeling rather pleased with himself. He had left the village about four hours ago now, along with his team. He didn't much care for Tazuna, but he'd have to get used to not liking his clients he supposed. Besides which, Tazuna had insulted Sasuke right off the bat, and that made him all right in Naruto's book. He chuckled, remembering the look of anger on Sasuke's face when Tazuna's words had registered with the dark-haired boy.

Naruto was a little surprised Shape-Shifter was being so quiet. The entire time since they'd left the village, the weapon had retained its half-blade sword form and hadn't spoken a single word. He was just starting to wonder what was up when the sword spoke. "Naruto," it said; its voice sounded concerned. Naruto made a gesture to let it know he was listening. "We have a problem; there are two weapons users nearby." Naruto swore silently. Then the sword continued. "Ah, they're using that. Interesting. I haven't seen anyone using that weapon in a while. Naruto, when I give you the word, draw me. We're going to see just how good you are with the rope javelin."

Naruto nodded, his muscles tense with excitement. He got a little closer to Tazuna, since he was their client; he was going to do what they'd said they would and protect the bridge-builder. They had walked another half mile or so when the sword suddenly told Naruto to draw him. Naruto jumped, spun around, and drew the weapon, which, to everyone's surprise, became a rope javelin.

Naruto turned to his two teammates and his sensei. "I've got this, just stand back guys," he said. They nodded, the three of them moving to surround Tazuna. Sasuke looked confused and Sakura was about to ask what Naruto meant when the answer became apparent. Naruto looked up and saw two ninja attacking them. The two looked to be just a little older than Naruto and his team. Each ninja was wearing tattered clothes and could have passed as homeless if not for the metal gauntlet each one wore. Naruto noticed the gauntlets and found that there was a chain running from one to the other, effectively binding the two ninja to one another. Naruto just stood there, swinging his rope javelin around, ready for anything. The two enemy ninja rushed at the five travelers.

Naruto was excited. Yes, he was a little scared too, but mostly excited. Then he heard the weapon telling him to throw it, which he did. The weapon flew out, its "rope" extending to just the right length. As Naruto threw it, he was jumping straight up in the air as well. The rope wrapped around the chain between the two enemies as Naruto flew over them. The blond saw the rope had caught the chain as he landed a few feet behind them. He pulled on the rope, which yanked the chain toward him. The pair attached to the chain were caught off-guard; they weren't expecting their weapon to so easily be countered, never mind having it turned against them like this. As Naruto yanked them to him, they stumbled and were trying to regain their balance. Naruto pictured a club, which he then had in his hand; as the two came within his range, Naruto struck them each a solid blow on the side of the head, knocking both out.

Sasuke was in shock, Sakura was confused, and Kakashi was flat-out stunned. Sasuke couldn't believe Naruto was so smooth and cool. Sakura wondered how Naruto had known those enemies were coming. Kakashi was stunned both by Naruto's weapon and by the fact Naruto had single-handedly defeated two Chunin in less than a minute. Naruto just grinned as he pulled out two lengths of rope and bound the two ninja, then put the sword back in its sheath on his back. He whispered, "Thanks, Shape-Shifter."

The weapon chuckled. "You did well for your first time, kid. I'm impressed," it said, its voice sounding almost sultry. Naruto chuckled back. He loved how easy it made things when everyone underestimated him. He didn't want to always rely on that, of course, but it did make it easy to catch those two off-guard. As he was chuckling to himself, Kakashi walked over.

"Naruto, you just took down two Chunin by yourself, and neither of them even got a single attack off. I know that weapon of yours has something to do with it, so spill. Where'd you get it?" the masked man said. Naruto explained in quiet tones where he'd gotten it, then said he'd explain the rest to the whole team later. Kakashi nodded, then turned to interrogate the two Naruto had bound. Naruto went back to his two teammates, a grin on his face.

"Hey, loser, what the hell was that?" Sasuke asked. He was still in shock, but he was also somewhat curious. "Where the hell did you get that weapon of yours? And what is it?"

Naruto chuckled softly and pulled the weapon, which was currently a short sword. As he drew it, it morphed into a rope javelin, then almost immediately into a mace, then a morning star, then a box, chuckling as it did. Naruto rolled his eyes as it morphed back into the short sword it originally was. Sasuke and Sakura had to pick their jaws up from the ground. Neither could quite believe what they had just seen. And the fact Naruto hadn't seemed to struggle holding up the heavier weapons (they thought) was shocking too.

Naruto just laughed at the looks on their faces. "I found this thing in a weapon shop back in the village. It's the only one like it, but I can show you guys the shop when we get back if you want, they've got other weapons there, and they're all really good," he said, chuckling. Sasuke looked eager, Sakura nodded, and Kakashi, who appeared just that moment behind the other two, eye smiled and nodded as well.

Kakashi looked at his team and said softly, "Let's move on. I doubt we'll be seeing any more trouble from those two, but there will be more coming at some point. Let's go before they show up. ANBU will be by to pick those two up soon." That said, the team collected Tazuna and moved on down the road.

Just as the five of them were leaving, they all heard a voice call out. "NARUTO!"

Naruto turned around and got quite a surprise. There, on the road, just a bit back, was Hinata. Naruto ran to her and smiled. "Hey, Hinata. What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I was sent to join you and your team as a diplomat for this mission," she said back. "By order of Lord Hokage himself, I report to you for duty, Kakashi-sensei." She bowed to said cyclops.

"I leave her in your capable hands, Kakashi," the ANBU said, bowing to him deeply.

"All right then," he answered. "You are dismissed." The ANBU bowed again and left, heading back to the village, his own duty complete. Kakashi turned to his team and Hinata and told them all, "Now come on, team, let's get moving, we're wasting daylight here." No more needed to be said. The group of, now, six people and one weapon moved on down the road.

That Evening

Naruto and Hinata were walking side-by-side in front of the group, Kakashi and Sasuke behind, and Sakura was walking beside Tazuna. Every so often, Hinata would activate her Byakugan, scan in front and behind them, then deactivate it again. She wanted to have plenty of chakra, just in case. Kakashi walked lazily, his Sharingan covered. Sakura seemed to be growling, and Sasuke was very tense. Sasuke's intensity was partly shame from earlier and partly hope that he'd have another chance to prove himself.

By now, Kakashi had confronted Tazuna about what was really going on, and Tazuna had told them all about a man named Gato who had taken over the Land of Waves and who was out for Tazuna's blood and was now, obviously, sending ninja after him. He had explained that the country was now poor due to this tyrant and that they didn't have enough money for anything higher than a C-Rank mission, which is why this group had been given the mission, obviously. Kakashi had agreed, against his better judgment, to continue the mission, so Team 7, along with Tazuna and Hinata, now found themselves boarding a small rowboat to cross into the Land of Waves proper.

Everything was quiet, everyone's nerves tense. Hinata, in particular, felt her body tensing up as she looked through the mist over the river they were crossing. Naruto was nervous, but then he saw something that brought him out of his reverie. A bridge was a mere ten feet or so from them. It was huge.

"IT'S HUGE!" he yelled out, scaring everyone and annoying his teammates in particular.

"Quiet!" the boatman scolded him. "We're rowing like this so no one hears us, so please be quiet."

"Oh, sorry," Naruto said back, his eyes looking downward. He turned to Hinata, who was still beside him (she had stayed near him since meeting the team so both could easily hear anything Naruto's weapon might tell them), and whispered, "That bridge really is impressive huh?"

Hinata nodded, then whispered back, "Yeah, it is. I'm impressed that Tazuna was able to construct something so huge."

The rest of their trip, which only lasted a few minutes, passed in silence. Soon, the small group was on their way to Tazuna's home. They had just stepped out from under the branches of a small copse of trees when Shape-Shifter made his presence known to Naruto and Hinata.

"Naruto, Hinata, we have a problem," he said softly. Both of them stiffened slightly. "There's a weapon wielder nearby. He wields a very large, very unique sword. From what I can tell, it's a sword that can repair itself during battles. He'll attack soon. We must act carefully."

After this brief speech, both Naruto and Hinata were incredibly tense, both ready to spring to either avoid attack, defend against it, or launch an attack of their own. Suddenly, Kakashi spoke up. "GET DOWN!" he yelled.

Naruto and Hinata hit the ground. Sakura leapt and pulled down Tazuna with her. Sasuke froze for half a second, then hit the ground as well. Kakashi, of course, hit the ground faster than any of the others. A large sword, like the one Shape-Shifter had warned Naruto and Hinata about, flew above them all and embedded itself in a tree not far from the small group. Moments later a tall man, face covered in bandages, landed on the hilt of the sword and stood there, looking over them. Even Naruto could feel the immense killing intent coming from this man. Sasuke trembled and froze under it. Sakura jumped in front of Tazuna on instinct. She was tense, but somehow she didn't freeze up. Hinata was trembling, but seeing how Naruto was glaring at the man gave her confidence and she stood up along with Naruto, taking her place by his side. Kakashi was giving off just as much killer intent as the swordsman.

Naruto turned to Kakashi and said softly, "We've got your back, Sensei."

Kakashi turned in surprise to see both Naruto and Hinata standing there, side by side, giving him a look that dared him to tell them to back off. He thought about ordering them to guard Tazuna, but he eventually nodded. He knew who this enemy was, and he knew he'd need all the help he could get to take him down. Plus, after seeing how quickly Naruto reacted earlier when the Demon Brothers attacked, Kakashi wasn't going to underestimate Naruto now. Turning toward the man, Kakashi grinned under his mask. "Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Mist. What a pleasure to meet you," he said, mockingly.

The tall man chuckled. "Kakashi of the Sharingan Eye. Did I get that right?" Sasuke tensed on hearing this. After all, the Sharingan was HIS bloodline. "This is truly an honor," Zabuza continued. "I'll finally get to see the Sharingan in action, wielded by none other than the infamous Copy Ninja." Saying this, Zabuza jumped down from the hilt of his sword, landed on the ground, reached up, and yanked the sword from the tree with one hand.

Naruto noticed in that moment just how strong this man was; he was wielding a sword that was longer than he was tall with one hand. Naruto stared at the man, Zabuza as Kakashi-sensei called him, wondering what this huge man would do. In preparation, Naruto drew Shape-Shifter, who was currently a short sword, much like he was when Naruto first found him. Naruto chuckled at that and slipped into a basic stance with the sword out in front of him. Hinata stood by his side, prepared for anything Naruto might need her to do. Kakashi lifted his headband and everyone present saw his left eye for the first time. It was red, and three black tomoe in a triangular pattern surrounded the center of the eye. Sasuke froze upon seeing this. Sakura, already in front of Tazuna, was merely curious. She had heard of the Sharingan of course, but she had never seen it before. Hardly anyone her age had. Zabuza just chuckled; after all, he knew what it was and what it could do. Or so he thought anyway.

Kakashi saw Naruto's stance and was impressed. He knew Naruto hadn't had that sword for very long, yet his stance was damn near perfect. He was a little bit tense, but, other than that, his stance was perfect. He wondered how Naruto had learned to use this weapon so quickly. Naruto stepped up to Kakashi. Naruto's next words were the biggest shock Kakashi had had for years.

"I've got this, Kakashi-sensei. Just back me up," Naruto said with a confident grin. He turned to Hinata, who surprisingly met his eyes and nodded. Kakashi was quite surprised, but, after seeing how confident they both seemed, he nodded. He kept his Sharingan active, but he stepped back out of the way. Naruto stepped forward and grinned at Zabuza, who was standing on the water. "I'm not stupid enough to come out there and give you the advantage by surrounding us with water, Zabuza. I challenge you to a weapons duel."

Zabuza would normally have laughed at this kid, challenging him so brazenly, but something about his eyes and that blue sword in his hand told Zabuza not to underestimate this kid. He walked over to the shore and met the kid's eyes. He could see the fear this kid felt, but the kid grinned at him, his eyes also full of determination.

Naruto whispered to Shape-Shifter, "Don't cut the sword just yet, don't want to totally humiliate him."

Shape-Shifter chuckled. "I like your way of thinking, Naruto. This battle should be fun," he said, his version of a sadistic grin showing in his eye.

Hinata took a step toward Naruto and said softly, "Naruto, what should I do?"

Naruto paused a moment. He had almost forgotten that Hinata could wield the sword as well. "For now, Hinata, just stand back. I don't want you to get hurt. Don't worry, I've got this," he said, grinning. Hinata could tell he was afraid, but she smiled back at him. The young girl stepped back, her lavender eyes taking in everything. Naruto kept his stance, turned to Zabuza, and spoke mockingly, "Nice sword."

Zabuza chuckled. "You like it?" he asked. "It took me many years to earn this sword. By the time I earned it, I had crushed more lives with my bare hands than there are people that you know!" His attempt to intimidate his enemy, for that's what his words were, failed miserably. Naruto just laughed.

"That's sad. I guess if you want to brag about killing ten people, that's fine by me, but that doesn't really faze me all that much," Naruto said, grinning as he mocked the man.

Kakashi, watching and listening to all of this, was stunned. He never thought Naruto would have the nerve to mock a man like this, but here he was, doing it. Then something that neither of the two Jonin present for this battle had expected to happen, happened. Zabuza, of all people, actually took the bait and got a little bit mad. Of course, he didn't show it, but what he did was charge at Naruto. Naruto, still in his stance, simply raised his sword to block, which Zabuza hadn't expected. The two swords clanged into one another, leaving a small chip in Zabuza's blade.

Zabuza jumped backward, looking at his now chipped blade, shocked. No one had damaged his sword at all in many years, never mind a young kid doing it. Naruto hadn't even moved. He just stood there looking at Zabuza. "You really shouldn't let your emotions take control of you like that, Zabuza," he mocked. He grinned when Zabuza glared at him, his eyes glinting with mirth and determination.

Naruto knew he'd never have much chance of landing an attack so long as Zabuza had that sword, so, for now at least, he was just defending. As he had expected, Zabuza charged again, swinging his sword very quickly, considering how large it was. Naruto once again blocked at the last moment. In truth, Shape-Shifter was directing Naruto where to put him, but Naruto was doing it. For a second time, the two blades slammed into one another, sparks flying. Again, a small chip formed in Zabuza's blade, then Zabuza pulled his sword back and made a vertical swing at Naruto, intending to cut him in half from head to crotch. Naruto chuckled.

Closing one eye, Naruto envisioned a box. Shape-Shifter chuckled as well, then turned into a box. Naruto put the box on his head, covering his face. He whispered, "Time to get rid of that blade. Shatter it."

Shape-Shifter nodded with his eye. Zabuza's sword slammed into the box on top of Naruto's head and, to everyone's shock except Naruto, the blade shattered. Only about half an inch of the blade remained on the hilt in Zabuza's hands; the rest of it was sent flying in tiny pieces, some of which embedded themselves in trees, some in the ground. Naruto didn't notice it at the time, but two of them embedded in his teammates' necks, killing both instantly. Hinata noticed, but she wasn't about to say anything to Naruto about it.

Naruto chuckled again, from under the box on his head, and whispered, "Let's trap him. Change to a house, see how he handles that. Let him in, but don't let him out."

Shape-Shifter laughed. "I like your sense of humor, kid. This should be interesting," he answered, then changed into a house as Naruto lifted him off his head. Naruto tossed him into the air. He came down on top of Zabuza, a small hole on his bottom allowing Zabuza in, then closing immediately. Naruto turned to see his teammates' reactions to this and saw Sasuke and Sakura laying on the ground, metal shards in their necks, dead.

Kakashi saw the shock on Naruto's face and told him something no one else would know. "It was a jutsu, Naruto. Zabuza directed the shards of his blade into them after it shattered. You're not to blame for this, Zabuza killed them," he spoke softly.

Naruto's anger now had a target: Zabuza. And he knew just where his target was. He turned to Hinata. "Hinata, I hate to ask you this, but will you help me avenge my teammates?"

Hinata nodded. "Of course, Naruto. It would be an honor."

"Good, then let's get going." Naruto came and grabbed Hinata's hand, not noticing her slight blush from the contact, in spite of the circumstances. The two walked over to the house that now stood just at the edge of the water. "Let us in, Shape-Shifter," Naruto said, his voice low and deep, a very soft growl.

The door opened and let them in, slamming shut behind them. "He's in a room down the hall to your right, third door on the left," Shape-Shifter spoke, his voice coming from all around them. Naruto let go of Hinata's hand and walked down the mentioned hall and to the door in question. He opened it and looked in.

Upon seeing the object of his rage, Naruto roared. "HOW DARE YOU!" he screamed. Zabuza turned and saw the two young ninja standing there. He almost laughed, but then he felt the massive killing intent rolling off Naruto. Naruto continued, "HOW DARE YOU KILL MY TEAMMATES LIKE THAT!" Zabuza would have asked Naruto what he meant, but he didn't get a chance.

Then it happened. Naruto fell to all fours, a red cloak of chakra forming around him. Hinata gasped and backed away from him a couple of steps in surprise. She wasn't afraid, just shocked. She activated her Byakugan and was stunned by how much chakra Naruto was using at the moment and how evil and angry it looked. So this was Naruto's so-called "special" chakra? She let her Byakugan turn back off and simply stood back and watched Naruto. Even without her bloodline, she could see the cloak around Naruto. She could see his hands had formed into claws, his whisker marks were far more defined, and he had fangs. The cloak itself looked like a fox, pointed ears on top and at present a single tail coming from the base of his spine. As she watched, two more tails grew alongside the first one.

Naruto roared in anger and rushed at Zabuza, who had been watching all this in total shock. What in the world was this power? Naruto moved so fast not even Hinata's Byakugan or Kakashi's Sharingan could have kept up with him. Zabuza didn't stand a chance. Naruto's fist buried itself in Zabuza's chest, sending him flying toward the walls of the "house". Shape-Shifter opened the "wall" and allowed the man to go flying out into the woods nearby. His back slammed against a tree. He slumped to the ground. Naruto was running forward to land a final killing blow when suddenly senbon needles flew out of a nearby tree and implanted themselves in Zabuza's neck. Zabuza fell further, seemingly dead.

Naruto stopped, his red chakra going back into him, his eyes, face, and hands turning back to normal. Kakashi, seeing this, breathed a sigh of relief. Of course, he was the only one there who knew what it meant. He saw Hinata coming over to Naruto and smiled quietly, glad Hinata wasn't afraid of Naruto, in spite of what she had obviously seen. Naruto, breathing deeply, looked up at the tree whence the senbon needles had been thrown. He roared in frustration, his anger spent. He walked over to Zabuza and checked for a pulse, just in case. There was none.

A young boy jumped down and landed beside Zabuza's body. "Thank you. I have been tracking him for a long time. Thank you for helping me take him down. I'll see to it you get a share of the bounty for your aid," he said. Then he picked up the body and both disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Naruto growled. He wanted to kill Zabuza himself, damn it! Oh well, nothing he could do about it now. He turned to the "house" and nodded. Shape-Shifter turned into a short sword in a sheath again, and Naruto walked over there and picked him up, slinging him back over his shoulder.

Kakashi came up to Naruto and Hinata. "I'm sorry, Naruto, there was nothing we could do for Sasuke or Sakura. I didn't know Zabuza could do that. But there is one thing you may find interesting," he said. Naruto looked up at him, curious. "Zabuza's still alive, Naruto. That boy saved him. He took his whole body away like that, which trackers never do. He should have cut the head off and burned the body, not taken it away like that. This means that Zabuza is still alive, and that boy is his partner. You'll have another shot at him."

Naruto grinned. That was good news. He still had a chance to avenge his teammates. Hinata was somewhat surprised by all this, but she smiled when Naruto did. "I'll help you, Naruto, as I said I would. I promise," she said softly.

Naruto smiled again, this time more softly, at Hinata. "Thank you, Hinata," he said. He was truly touched by her offer. Now that they all knew who they were up against, Kakashi saw no reason not to continue the mission, in spite of their losses, so, after taking a break to bury the bodies, the three remaining people continued on and soon enough arrived at Tazuna's home. None of them knew the dangers they would soon face.


	4. The New Team

Author Note: This chapter is going to be mostly focused on battling, so I skimped on the details of the training done while in Wave, as well as the exact occurrences with Tazuna's family. I don't really like the Wave Arc, so I wanted to get it the hell over with, that's why I'm moving so fast in this chapter. However, the final fight in this arc will change pretty much everything in the future arcs of the story.

Chapter 4

It was now three days after the first encounter with Zabuza and his partner, of whose name Naruto, Hinata, and Kakashi all remained ignorant. In the intervening days, Naruto and Inari, Tazuna's grandson, had had a dispute, based mostly on Inari thinking Naruto was weak and Naruto thinking Inari needed to stop whining and crying and do something about it, found out they were actually rather similar, and become friends after a fashion. Naruto was still a bit shaken up about losing his teammates, but he was just that much more determined to make the mission a success to honor them and to kill Zabuza to avenge them.

Naruto and Hinata were currently training with Shape-Shifter, who had created a clone so both could wield him; he had blunted his blade so they could practice without hurting one another. They had been practicing for a couple hours now, when Shape-Shifter made a suggestion.

"Let's try something different now," the weapon said. Naruto and Hinata both looked at him, waiting for what he would say. "Naruto, you remember the weapon the Demon Brothers used?" Here Naruto nodded. How could he forget his first battle? "All right, I'm going to turn into that between you two. I want to see how well you can work together with it."

The two nodded, liking the idea, and the weapon became a clawed gauntlet on each ninja's hand, a chain stretching from one to the other. There was a small grove nearby; the two raced to the edge of it and began using their chained weapon on some of the trees; they didn't slice them, they stopped at "trapping" the trees, since they were just practicing. Shape-Shifter was soon satisfied they could use this form well.

After the young friends had practiced another few hours, using every form Shape-Shifter had thus far displayed and a few new ones (yes, this includes boxes, houses, and planks), they put the weapon in his sheath and set him aside so Hinata could help Naruto with one of his biggest weaknesses: chakra control.

"All right, Naruto, the first exercise to improve your chakra control is to walk up a tree using just your feet," she told him. When Naruto looked at her like she was crazy, she walked to a tree and did just what she said, proving her point. Naruto grinned, liking this. "All right, first, concentrate chakra to the bottom of your feet, then walk up the tree," Hinata told him.

Naruto tried several times, slipping off once, breaking the bark another time, nearly cutting the tree down altogether once. Hinata, watching with her Byakugan, could see the problem, so she told him what he needed to do. After that, he began to progress much more quickly.

This training lasted two days. By the end of that time, Naruto could walk all the way up a tree without a pause using just his feet. Hinata, for her part, had been working on mastering her most recent chakra exercise, water walking. She had it pretty much down now, so when Naruto had mastered tree climbing, she showed him the new exercise, which he took to like...well, like a fish to water.

By the end of their fifth day, which Kakashi guessed left them two days before Zabuza would reappear, Naruto and Hinata were sparring on the water, both using Shape-Shifter and neither having the slightest issue with standing on the water. By now, both were fairly proficient at predicting what form Shape-Shifter would take as well.

Kakashi chuckled as he watched the two sparring on the water; he was surprised Naruto had mastered that and tree climbing already, but he was also proud of his student. He sighed, shaking his head as he thought back to how he had lost his own two teammates. He now felt a much stronger bond to Naruto than he had before. He just hoped the Hokage would allow him to continue training Naruto. He realized, watching Naruto and Hinata together, that he might have to take on the young girl as well, but he was far from averse to that; in fact, he rather liked the idea. He wasn't so sure her own sensei would be too happy with the idea, however.

Kakashi sighed. He knew the council would be none too pleased about Sasuke dying. Sakura's mom would be upset about her daughter dying, and Naruto was mad about it, but beyond that, few would really care about her other than her friends, really, but Sasuke's death would likely enrage the entire village, since he was the last Uchiha.

Kakashi sighed again, shaking his head, his eyes both closed. He was annoyed with both his village and himself for how they had seen things in the past. He hoped he at least could make up for his mistakes. As he was pondering these things, he looked up at Naruto and Hinata and couldn't help but smile at how well the two worked together. They seemed like a natural pair, not only in battle, but in more personal matters as well.

He chuckled at that thought. Hinata was so different from Naruto, calm to his exuberant, quiet to his loud, shy to his outgoing, simple to his rather extravagant. She hid where he forced others to see him, she blushed where he displayed proudly. Kakashi grinned; obviously it was true that opposites attract. After all, these two, who were so different, were obviously great friends as well. He nodded, then turned and returned to Tazuna's home, leaving the two friends to continue their practice, never knowing they had been aware of his presence from the moment he arrived.

Naruto grinned at Hinata. "He's gone, isn't he?" he asked, referring to Kakashi. Hinata nodded.

"Y-Yes, he just left," Hinata answered, blushing slightly. Naruto grinned, his eyes twinkling mischievously. Hinata knew that look. It meant Naruto was planning a prank. She smiled at him, thinking that if he was planning a trick, he must be feeling better. In truth, he was feeling better, even if he was still angry about his teammates' deaths.

Naruto came to Hinata and spoke softly. "Are you any good at genjutsu, Hinata?" he asked her, his eyes still twinkling.

Hinata gasped as she felt his breath on her skin; he was leaning quite close so she could hear him. She took a deep breath to keep herself from fainting. "I know a f-few g-genjutsu, Naruto," she answered. "Why do you ask?"

Naruto leaned even closer, whispering directly into her ear, and told her his plan. Hinata grinned. Tomorrow would be their last day of peace before Zabuza came back, if Kakashi-sensei's guess was right, and if Naruto's plan worked, it would be an interesting day indeed.

Hinata found herself getting caught up in the idea of not only helping Naruto, but of pranking his sensei. She knew she was breaking the rules, and she loved the feeling. She smiled, blushed slightly, and agreed to help Naruto. That settled, the young friends headed back to Tazuna's home to rest for the night. Hinata would need the chakra and Naruto would need to be well-rested; after all, once Kakashi figured out what had happened, there was a damn good chance he'd be chasing Naruto with the intent to kill. That just made it that much more fun, of course, but it did mean Naruto would need to be able to run.

The following morning, Kakashi awoke to find himself being waited on hand and foot, by pretty girls at that. He was being fed fresh fruit by some (he didn't bother to ask where they came by that), while others brought him cool, clear water, and still others periodically fluffed his pillows to make sure he was kept comfortable. He thought at first this must be a dream, but then he decided to just roll with it and enjoy it. This lasted for what seemed like hours, until he had eaten several fruits, drank two or three full glasses of water, and had his pillows fluffed till they were probably going to tear soon. Then he heard something.

"Dispel," Hinata said quietly.

Kakashi then saw what was really going on. He was laying on a hard mat, a single pillow behind him (it was well-fluffed, so perhaps some of what he'd seen was real), and while the water was real enough, the "fruit" he'd been eating was revealed to really be some very unappetizing-looking gray slop. The next thing Kakashi noticed was the horrid taste in his mouth, then the uproarious laughing of both Naruto and Hinata. He growled, realizing he'd been pranked. Then he just sighed.

"Good one, Naruto," he said, before joining them in their laughter, which all of them needed after the first battle with Zabuza. The laughter, which at first was somewhat forced for all of them, soon enough became full-on belly laughs with all of them having trouble breathing. Naruto in particular was glad to have been the cause of this, so he laughed harder than the other two, though only a little.

Kakashi had never paid much attention to Naruto's pranks before, but now that he'd been the victim of one, he had to admit they were pretty good. Of course, he'd had help with this one, in the form of Hinata and her genjutsu, but still, the execution showed pranking skill that Hinata just didn't have, so that had to be Naruto. He chuckled as he thought about this, realizing his student had more skill as a ninja than he'd been given credit for, especially since he could outrun ANBU and Jonin level ninja when he was still in the Academy, as Kakashi had heard Naruto had done.

"_I must redouble my efforts to train this boy,"_ Kakashi thought to himself. Sitting there on a hard mat in the Land of Waves, Kakashi made a vow to himself. He vowed he would train his student the way his own sensei had trained him, and be like a father to this boy who had no one, if he could. He smiled at Naruto, then decided the time was near when he'd have to tell Naruto who he really was. Of course, this could lead to a seriously angered Naruto, but Kakashi knew that no matter how Naruto reacted, telling him was the right thing to do, and it was really his responsibility to do it as the boy's sensei.

All too soon, the day when Kakashi believed Zabuza's second attack would come had arrived. On this day, Kakashi had left for the bridge with Hinata early, having instructed Naruto to guard the family for half an hour, then follow, leaving them with a small handful of clones. Naruto was more than a little annoyed about this. Zabuza was HIS, damn it. He thought about what Kakashi had said as he and Hinata left.

Flashback

"But Kakashi-sensei, I want to come with you, Zabuza is mine!" Naruto said, his eyes flashing in anger.

"Naruto, you must learn something now, and learn it well. It is far more important to protect something or someone precious to you than it is to avenge someone you have lost or to kill an enemy. You must learn this, Naruto. I learned it the hard way, and lost two good friends in the process. Please, Naruto, do not make my mistake," Kakashi answered, looking at Naruto seriously. "And don't worry, we'll save some fun for you, right, Hinata?" Here the one-eyed ninja obviously grinned, even though his mask covered it.

Hinata smiled kindly at Naruto. She came and rested a hand on his shoulder. "Naruto, don't allow this desire to avenge your team to consume you, you are better than that," she said, looking concerned.

Naruto rested a hand on Hinata's, making the shy girl blush. "Thank you, Hinata," he said to her. "You are my anchor. Don't worry, as long as you're around, I won't be consumed by this or anything."

Hinata blushed at his words, but she managed a smile. She hugged him, then turned and left with Kakashi. Naruto slowly realized he was more worried about Hinata getting hurt than he was about losing his shot at Zabuza. He grinned. Kakashi was right.

End Flashback

Naruto nodded. Yes, Kakashi was right, it was far more important to protect Hinata than to kill Zabuza. He'd be satisfied if Zabuza survived, just as long as Hinata didn't get hurt in the process. He turned and looked at Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter and Inari's mother, and Inari, who were sitting nearby, apprehension clear on their faces. Yes, he would protect them as well. That was not only his duty but the right thing to do as well.

As Naruto was thinking about this, he heard a loud crash from the front door of the house. He quickly shoved Tsunami and Inari into the next room and created two clones, who transformed into the two clients and sat where they had been. Two men entered the room, both wielding swords and grinning evilly. Naruto grinned back at them, thinking this was gonna be fun.

"We're here for the lady, so just get out of our way, kid, and you won't get hurt," one of them said.

Naruto just made a hand sign, and Shape-Shifter appeared in his hand in his sword form. He grinned when he saw Naruto's two opponents. "This should be entertaining," he said, laughing.

Naruto agreed. He kept the sword to start with. He charged at the two men, who blocked and parried Naruto's attacks, showing they had at least a modicum of skill. This lasted for a few moments, Naruto testing their skills and seeing they stood no chance against him, even without the sword.

"Just give up," the blond said, chuckling at the two of them. "You don't stand a chance against me."

This clearly enraged the two, who charged at Naruto in response. Naruto sighed. He pictured a club, which Shape-Shifter gladly turned into for his wielder. Naruto swung him, picturing a mace as he did; Shape-Shifter became the ball-and-chain weapon mid-swing, which caused the momentum to work perfectly so that the chain wrapped around the neck of one and the ball smashed into the back of the other's neck, killing the latter.

The remaining swordsman was even more enraged now. "How dare you!" he screamed, rushing at Naruto, sword ready, again. Naruto just sighed. He pictured a morning star this time. Shape-Shifter grinned as he turned into the spiked-bat-like weapon. Naruto used this weapon to block the swordsman's swing. Shape-Shifter used the spikes to entrap the sword, which Naruto then yanked out of its wielder's hands. The sword flew and stuck into the wall on the far side of the room. That done, Naruto turned to his opponent.

"You have a choice. Continue this fight and die, or leave and live. Your choice. But I warn you, if you return here, or if I ever see you again, I will kill you," Naruto told the man, his eyes angry, killing intent rolling off him in waves.

The swordsman glared back a moment, then shuddered under the boy's killing intent and, after retrieving his sword, turned and ran. Naruto just chuckled. "Tsunami, Inari, you can come out now," he said. His clones released their transformations as the two reentered the room. Naruto created three more clones. "These five will guard you until we're sure you're safe. I'm off to the bridge to help out there. Later." With that, the blond hyperactive ninja took off to help his friends.

At the Bridge

Kakashi, Hinata, and Tazuna arrived at the bridge to find a bloodbath. Every worker in sight was either dead or dying. "What happened here?" Tazuna yelled.

One worker moaned out, "It was...a d-demon!" just before he died. Tazuna looked around at the multitude of bodies laying around. Kakashi raised his headband, exposing his previously covered Sharingan eye. Hinata activated her Byakugan.

"Hinata, protect Tazuna. I'll hold them off till Naruto gets here," Kakashi said, his eyes saying he hoped that wouldn't take long. Hinata nodded and summoned Shape-Shifter. She knew Naruto would still have the weapon when he arrived, so she wasn't worried. She stood in front of Tazuna, Byakugan active, in a defensive stance, sword at the ready. She hoped Naruto would be there soon, too.

As the two stood there, they heard soft steps approaching them. Hinata was the first to see their enemies approaching, due to the extended range of her Byakugan, but Kakashi saw them moments later with the aid of his left eye. Sure enough, the two approaching were Zabuza and the one who had supposedly killed him in their first encounter. Kakashi had to do everything in his power not to laugh at this. He had known something was up, of course, and this just proved him right.

"So, Zabuza, I was right. You are alive," Kakashi said, closing his normal eye so he could use his Sharingan more effectively.

"Did you really think I'd be that easy to kill, Kakashi?" Zabuza asked back. "Me, Zabuza, die at the hand of a Genin? I don't think so."

"Lucky for you, you won't have to find out just now," Kakashi answered, grinning. "The Genin in question isn't here. I'm sure if he were, you wouldn't be standing right now."

Hinata looked around. "Kakashi-sensei," she spoke. He nodded, knowing what she was saying. He made a circular gesture with one finger. Hinata moved quickly, Shape-Shifter flashing before her. She cut down over a dozen water clones of Zabuza, which had surrounded her and Tazuna.

Zabuza turned to his partner. "It seems you have a rival, Haku," he said, his words almost a growl.

The now-named apprentice, Haku, nodded. "So it would seem," he said. His voice was high, almost feminine.

Hinata, realizing what this meant, stepped forward. She hoped Naruto would get there soon; she wasn't sure she could take this enemy alone. She sighed; she had no other choice. She ran at Haku, Shape-Shifter in one hand, swinging hard. Haku blocked the weapon with a needle. Hinata was a little surprised, but she didn't show it. Instead, she concentrated on overpowering her opponent. Haku held in place.

Suddenly, Haku began flashing through hand signs with his free hand, which surprised Hinata. Once the hand signs were done, the water surrounding Hinata flew into the air, formed into water needles, and began to rush at Hinata as Haku said, quietly, "Thousand Needles of Death."

Hinata forced chakra to her legs and jumped backward as far as she could, easily dodging the move. She spoke quietly to Shape-Shifter. "So, he uses needles. What works well against needles?"

The weapon thought about that for a moment, then grinned. It had an idea, and one that should at least buy time until Naruto got there. "Hinata, I'm going to turn into a full-body suit of armor and hide under your clothes. Those needles will be useless against you after that. So just fight him as if he didn't have them," the sword said. It then disappeared and Hinata felt her body covered by the armor.

Hinata ran forward again, this time bare-handed, and made several jabs at Haku. Haku dodged most of her moves and deflected the rest. Frustrated, Hinata kept trying and failing to make contact. Haku stepped back.

"All right," he said. "I see you are quick, but now it's time I show you what speed really means." He formed a hand sign. Hinata could only watch in horrified fascination as the water all around her rose into the air and froze into rectangular slabs, like mirrors. Haku spoke, "Secret Art: Crystal Ice Mirrors!" The boy then stepped forward and into one of the mirrors, his image appearing in all of them.

Moments after Hinata had been surrounded by mirrors, Naruto arrived on the bridge. He stayed back and watched what was going on for several moments. He saw Hinata inside a dome of ice mirrors, Kakashi and Zabuza watching her fight the boy in the mask, who was in the mirrors, and Tazuna just standing back, watching everything. Naruto created a clone and had it transform into Tazuna. He had it substitute itself with the real Tazuna, who Naruto then told quietly to stay hidden where he was; he was in sight of the bridge, but hidden from sight of anyone on the bridge.

That done, Naruto made his way to the bridge itself, waiting to find an opportunity to attack. Unfortunately, as he watched, he saw Hinata hit with a storm of needles from the mirrors. He could see she was dodging most of them, but some still stuck in her body. He watched, horrified, as two struck her in the neck and she fell over, seemingly dead.

Naruto ran to Hinata, hoping against hope she was okay. Hinata was awake, but only just. She could feel her life draining out of her. She realized that while only two needles had hit her, they were in her neck and, she feared, they must have hit something vital, and now she was dying. Naruto was there with her, she could see him. She was dying, but she had a chance to at least tell him how she felt.

"N-Naruto," she said quietly. "I'm dying. But before I go..." she stopped. She took a deep breath, then finished. "I want to tell you, Naruto, before I die, that I...I love you, Naruto," she said, then her eyes closed. Naruto, stunned by what she had said, reached up and touched her neck, searching for a pulse. There was none. He turned toward Haku. His eyes were red, and then, as he glared at Haku, a haze of red chakra seeped out of him.

Haku and Zabuza both wondered what the hell this was, Zabuza recognized it from his first encounter with Naruto, but didn't know what it was; Kakashi felt it and knew what it was. He turned to Zabuza and, grinning behind his mask, said, "You might want to get your apprentice out of there, he doesn't stand a chance now."

Naruto dashed toward Haku; he swung at the mirror he thought Haku was in; it shattered under his fist. Haku dove out of a tiny fragment of the mirror and came at Naruto from behind. Naruto turned and grabbed Haku's arm. He pulled Haku toward him and slammed his fist into the boy's face at the same time, which caused his punch to be, for all intents and purposes, at double strength. This addition of power not only broke Haku's mask, revealing his face, it also knocked the young boy unconscious.

Naruto knew the boy was still alive, but he didn't care. The red chakra slipped back into his body; it seemed Naruto had learned the lesson that saving a life was far more important than taking a life, and revenge wasn't worth it, really.

Meanwhile, Kakashi and Zabuza were fighting. Zabuza had cut Kakashi's arm during the fight, and now he was hiding in the mist again. Kakashi pulled out a scroll and bit his thumb; he spread his blood down the length of the scroll, then used it to form a series of hand signs, after which he rolled it back up and pressed it against the ground. Zabuza laughed from the mist, but before he could speak, a pack of dogs surged out of the ground around him and latched onto his arms, legs, and one shoulder. Kakashi was getting ready to charge Zabuza with his Lighting Blade, but everyone stopped when they heard a tapping sound coming from the incomplete end of the bridge. Naruto, Kakashi, and Zabuza all turned to see what was there. They saw a large group of people standing out there, with a very small man in front of them.

Naruto growled; so this was Gato. He didn't wait to hear what anyone would say, he just pulled his sword and channeled chakra into it. Shape-Shifter grinned when he saw what Naruto was up to, and helped the blond concentrate it into a thinner form along the blade. Then Naruto swung the weapon and forced the chakra to go out in the form of a blade, which cut through the entire group standing on the bridge, leaving none alive.

Naruto turned to Zabuza. "It would seem your contract is ended, Zabuza. So, Tazuna is safe from you, am I right?" Zabuza nodded. Naruto turned to Kakashi. "That was for Hinata," he said softly, then he turned and ran to Hinata, who was still laying still. He fell to his knees beside her. Then he finally thought about what she'd said just as she died. She'd said she loved him. Naruto fell onto her chest and broke into tears, sobbing his heart out over lost chances.

Naruto had been crying for several minutes when he heard something. "N-Naruto?" a voice asked. It was Hinata. He sat up, tears falling from his eyes freely, then he saw Hinata was awake. She was alive! He gasped, then hugged her tight to him. Hinata was surprised, but she hugged him back.

After a few moments of this, Naruto pulled back. "Hinata, what you said before...is it true?" he asked her. Hinata blushed deeply, but she slowly nodded. Naruto sighed. "Hinata, I don't love you, not yet anyway. But if you're willing to give me a chance, I would like to get to know you better, and maybe one day I'll love you back."

Hinata blushed even deeper, then hugged Naruto again. She whispered, "Yes, Naruto, I'll wait for you forever."

Naruto smiled at her, then asked, "Hinata, would you be my girlfriend?" Hinata blushed, nodded, then fainted. Naruto chuckled, then picked her up. Both knew deep down that nothing had really changed, except that they were now officially a couple. That thought, in fact, was what made Hinata faint. He walked over to Kakashi. "She's alive, Kakashi-sensei. We're both fine," he said. Kakashi's dogs had released Zabuza, who went to Haku. "He'll live, Zabuza. Take him and go. And you'd better hope we never meet again," Naruto said, his eyes and voice full of hate.

Zabuza nodded, then vanished with Haku in his arms. Zabuza had learned something from this boy: mercy. He would remember this; the boy who defeated Haku had shown mercy. He knew Haku showed mercy, as well. Always before, he had seen this as weakness, but perhaps it wasn't. He would remember this.

The next several days passed quietly. Naruto used his clones to help finish the bridge, Hinata rested and helped the real Naruto train, and Kakashi supervised both. Soon enough, the bridge was finished, the team had said their goodbyes, and now Naruto, Hinata, and Kakashi were leaving the Land of Waves to return to their village. Naruto was pleased with the mission overall, even though he still missed his teammates. Hinata was happy...yet sad for Naruto. Kakashi was determined to make the future the best he could, for himself and for Naruto. The three were all bound to one another by common loss and common experience. They felt like a true team.

Author Note: I'm going to apologize right now, I doubt the fight scenes in this chapter were all that good. And I know it seemed like I contradicted myself with Hinata, but I didn't: think about it, the armor stopped at her neck, obviously. Anyway, I'm sorry for the poor fight scenes, and I hope you enjoyed anyway.


	5. Team Fifteen

A/N: To an anonymous reviewer who commented about Hinata's Gentle Fist hitting Haku in the last chapter of Chigan. Dude, I specifically said he DEFLECTED her moves, which meant NOT A SINGLE ONE hit him. Anyway, sorry, that annoyed me. On with the chapter!

Chapter 5

Naruto looked ahead of himself and smiled as he saw the wall of the Hidden Leaf Village. He couldn't help smiling; the village always did look its best as the setting sun seemed to set it aflame. Finally, they were home! His face fell as he remembered that his teammates would never see their home again, but he comforted himself by taking Hinata's hand a moment and squeezing it gently. She smiled up at him, and soon the two Genin and Kakashi were back in the village.

All too soon for any of their liking, Naruto, Hinata, and Kakashi were standing before Hiruzen Sarutobi, prepared to give their report on this disastrous mission. The Third Hokage looked over all three of them, noting mentally the lack of the other two. He also noticed the two small scrolls Kakashi had lashed to his right hip.

Pulling his pipe from his mouth, the aging leader spoke. "Kakashi, report," he said, his voice filled with both the commanding quality of any leader and the worry of a man who fears for a dear friend. He wasn't particularly close to either Sasuke or Sakura, but their absence worried him.

Kakashi sighed deeply. This was going to be hard. "After leaving the village, about four hours into our journey, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and I were attacked by the infamous Demon Brothers of the Hidden Mist Village," he began. "Surprising all of us, Naruto, wielding a...rather unique weapon, defeated them before they could even complete a single move."

The Hokage nodded. "So I was told by Inoichi and Ibiki after they interrogated the two mentioned rogues."

Kakashi nodded. "After that, we were joined by Hinata, received supplemental information from our client, and decided to continue our mission despite it being mis-ranked. I'm sorry to report my error in judgment cost Sasuke and Sakura their lives."

Hiruzen gasped and slumped noticeably at this. "They're...dead?" he asked. Kakashi sighed deeply and nodded. The Hokage could see that all three ninja in front of him were deeply hurt by this loss, so he wasn't about to press them about it. _"I'm getting too old for this garbage," _he thought to himself.

Kakashi continued, telling of their first battle with Zabuza and the week of training Naruto and Hinata had done together. The Hokage made a mental note to ask Naruto about his weapon after their report was finished. By the time the Jonin's story had progressed to the part where Naruto's red chakra made itself apparent and he went toe-to-toe with Zabuza, Hiruzen was sweating bullets, though no one looking at him would have been able to tell it.

When Kakashi got to the battle on the bridge, Naruto took over. The aged Hokage was paler than Hinata when Naruto told of Hinata's "death" at the hands of Haku, and by the time Naruto had finished his story, the Hokage couldn't do anything more than simply sit back in shock and try to process everything he'd been told.

"All right, thank you for your report, Naruto, Kakashi, Hinata, I'm sorry for sending you into this mission so unprepared, but you all handled yourselves in an exemplary fashion, and I am proud of you. Naruto, Kakashi, you two will report to me tomorrow morning at 8 A.M. sharp. Am I clear?" Naruto and Kakashi nodded, spent after telling their tale, and, giving their leader a bow, left. Naruto gave Hinata's hand a squeeze as he left. Now that the girl was alone, Hiruzen turned to Hinata. "Hinata, first I require your report on your mission as a diplomat."

Hinata blushed slightly. "It was as successful as could be expected, Lord Hokage," she said. "I was more or less unneeded except for doing battle with Zabuza's apprentice, Haku."

The Third nodded. "So I gathered. Anyway, I'm going to class this whole mess as an accomplished A-rank for all five of you," he said, including their two deceased comrades in the number. "Sasuke and Sakura will both have their names inscribed on the Memorial Stone." The last was said mostly to himself. Hinata waited. "Now, I would have asked Naruto about this, but he was too worn out, so can you tell me the origin of this amazing weapon you and he wielded on this mission?"

Hinata told the Hokage the tale Naruto had told her of him finding it in a small shop in the slums around the main gate and told of being found worthy to wield it as well. She then told of its abilities, qualities, and so on. She was careful to omit exactly how she and Naruto knew of these things; she figured telling anyone about the weapon talking to them would bring down more heat than they needed just now. By the time her story was told, Hiruzen was massively curious as to the origin of the weapon. He set that aside for the time being, however.

"Hinata," he said. The shy Hyuga straightened up and stood at attention. "As you heard, I ordered Naruto and Kakashi to be here at eight tomorrow morning. Do you meet with your team prior to that time?" Hinata nodded. They met at seven most mornings. "Good, please be here and have your team with you at that time as well."

Hinata bowed. "Yes, Lord Hokage," she said.

Hiruzen smiled at the kind girl. "You're dismissed," he said. Hinata bowed again and left. Once he was alone in his office, Hiruzen snapped once and a single ANBU appeared before him. "Go to the slum near the main gate of the village, seek out a weapon shop there. It's reported to have very high-quality weapons," he ordered, and the ANBU disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Five minutes later, the ANBU was back. Hiruzen signaled for him to report. "I found the building where the weapons shop once was, Lord Hokage," he said. "The sign declaring "Weapons" was still in front of the shop, but the building itself was falling down. There hasn't been anything in that building for at least twenty years." The ANBU then vanished again, his report finished.

Hiruzen puffed on his pipe as he pondered this new bit of information. A weapon with amazing powers coming from a shop that hadn't been in residence in over twenty years...well, it was a rarity, to say the least. Sighing, the old man rose from his desk and made his way home and to bed, knowing he'd need a good night's rest to be ready for the fallout from this mission that would surely come tomorrow.

xxxxxx

Hinata returned home after her debriefing with the Hokage. As she entered the Hyuga compound, the first person she saw was also the last person she wanted to see: her father, Hiashi.

"Hinata," he spoke, his voice cold. "I was told you were sent on a C-rank diplomatic mission. Is this true?"

Hinata bowed. "Yes, Father, it's true. I was s-sent with Team Seven to the Land of Waves as a d-diplomat since they had only S-Sasuke from a major clan, and Sasuke, since h-his cl-clan was d-destroyed, likely had no t-training in s-such things, I w-was s-sent to p-perform the d-duties of diplomat for th-their m-mission," she said, cursing her stutter.

Hiashi nodded, seeing the logic in this and feeling pride in his clan that even the failure of the clan could be of use to the village. "And what were the results of the mission?"

Hinata looked up at her father, her eyes full of pain. "My mission will be listed as a successful A-rank mission, d-due to c-circumstances that occurred d-during the d-duration of the m-mission," she said. "Naruto, Kakashi, and I had to fight off t-two rogue n-ninja, one of whom w-was a J-Jonin."

Hiashi looked surprised at this. "Who were the two rogue ninja?" he asked his daughter.

Hinata looked at her father, afraid he would disapprove for some reason. "Zabuza Momochi and his apprentice, whose name was Haku," she answered. "Naruto and I defeated Haku, who was at least a Chunin-level opponent and wielded the Ice Style bloodline, while Kakashi defeated Zabuza."

Hiashi looked shocked at this. "You defeated a Chunin with an advanced bloodline with only the aid of another Genin?" Hinata blushed, but nodded. "You have brought honor to your clan, Hinata, well done." With that, Hiashi turned and left Hinata to herself, returning to his study.

Hinata pinched herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming, then made her way to her room and laid down to try to go to sleep. For some reason, Hinata hadn't really had trouble during the mission, but now that she was at home, every time she closed her eyes, she saw Zabuza's sword shattering and the shards burying themselves in Sasuke and Sakura's necks. She shivered. There would be no sleep for the shy girl tonight. Rising from her bed, she paced, trying to dispel the horrible memory. She knew ninja died on missions, of course, but this was the first time she'd seen it so up-close and personal. She shuddered again at the memory, then laid down again. It took hours, but, eventually, Hinata's sheer exhaustion overtook her, and she fell into a restless sleep.

xxxxxx

Naruto, feeling more alone than he ever had, made his way home slowly, his eyes downcast. He knew things weren't going to go very well for him the next little while. Even if the village didn't blame "the demon brat" for the death of the last Uchiha, which they likely would, losing his team would still make things a total mess for a while. Sighing for what seemed like the thousandth time, he opened his door and went in. Naruto made himself some ramen, figuring he needed to eat something...for once, he actually had no appetite, even for his favorite food.

Sitting down with his cups of instant ramen, Naruto ate mechanically while his mind replayed the first fight with Zabuza over and over again. Naruto berated himself, trying to figure out anything else he could have done, anything he could have changed to make his teammates survive, but he couldn't come up with anything. Roaring in frustration, Naruto grabbed a kunai and stabbed himself in the hand. He wasn't trying to really hurt himself, just to relieve some frustration and pain. Looking at his hand, he gave a rueful smile. _"An oath," _he thought to himself. _"Yes, an oath, I'll make an oath of pain."_

He spoke aloud, though no one was there to hear him. "This day, I make an oath of pain," he said. "I vow on this wound I will always do all in my power to protect those who are precious to me from all threats, be they inside the village or out, or even, if I must, to protect them from themselves...or from me." He shivered as he spoke the last words. He had a feeling they would come back to haunt him someday.

Naruto nodded to himself. _"Sounds like I've got myself a nindo," _he thought. He gave a small smile, then went through his evening routine, getting a shower and crawling into bed. Having decided on his nindo relieved him of some of the pain of having lost his teammates, and he quickly fell asleep. Like Hinata, his sleep was restless and full of dreams of his fallen comrades.

xxxxxx

Kakashi found himself, as usual, standing in front of the Hero's Memorial Stone. Tonight, though, he was fighting off tears. "I'm sorry, Obito," he said. "I failed you. I promised I would always look after your family after you died, and I failed. I'm so sorry." Falling to his knees, the masked man broke into tears. He sobbed for at least an hour, letting his emotions out for the first time in years.

Finally calming down, Kakashi stood and looked at the stone. He knew after tonight, he would never come here again. He didn't know how he knew that, exactly, but he did. "Obito, tonight I make you a new vow. I will find the one who killed you, and see to it that they are brought to justice," he said. As he spoke, he pulled out a blade. It was a half-sword, like those used by ANBU. "I will carry this blade...until I use it against the man who used it to kill you," he said. As he spoke, he remembered seeing Obito's eyes finally turn red and gain the three tomoe the young Uchiha had always yearned for just as the blade now in his hands was drawn across his throat. Kakashi had never seen the man's face, but he had made him drop the blade by pinning the hand that held it to a tree. He would always know the man by that hand; its every detail was burned into Kakashi's mind.

Kakashi's eyes burned with tears again as he remembered how the man had then thrown a shuriken, which had sliced Kakashi's left eye, giving him the scar that now ran over it and destroying the eye itself. Kakashi knew he was lucky; Rin had barely had time to implant Obito's eye in Kakashi's then-empty eye socket before they were attacked again and Rin threw herself and their enemy (not the one who had killed Obito, another man) over a cliff, presumably killing both. Kakashi shed tears this time for Rin, for his lost love, for what might have been. This time, his tears didn't last as long, simply because he didn't have as many tears to cry.

Finally calming down again, Kakashi rose to his feet and began to make his way home. As he was leaving, he thought he saw a shadowy figure hiding nearby, but when he looked harder, there was nothing there. Arriving home, he had the feeling again that he would never again go to the Memorial Stone. Sighing, he chuckled to himself as he thought, _"I'll have to figure out some other reason to be late now."_ With that final thought, the man laid himself down on his bed and fell asleep, not bothering to eat first as he was simply too tired from the mission and his two bouts of tears. Of the three who returned from the Land of Waves, Kakashi was the only one who slept soundly that night. After all, he was more accustomed to death than the two Genin.

xxxxxx

Meanwhile, back at the Memorial Stone, a figure stood. He was tall and slender with black hair and red eyes with three tomoe in them. He wore a black cloak with red clouds emblazoned on it. The figure was the infamous traitor, Itachi Uchiha.

"I'm sorry, Obito," he said. "I covered for them for your sake and Sasuke's, but now that Sasuke's gone...no more." With that, he vanished into the night in a puff of smoke. He had things to do to prepare for the next few days.

xxxxxx

The Third Hokage sighed. It was currently 7:58. He was expecting Naruto, Hinata, Kurenai, Shino, and Kiba in two minutes and Kakashi in about thirty-two. This situation was extremely unusual, even for a ninja village, so the way he handled it could easily determine the future of not only the six shinobi directly involved in it, but the entire village. However, he had a solution in mind; he only hoped the six in question would embrace it.

Hearing a knock on his door, Hiruzen called for whoever was there to come into his office. He dropped his pipe in shock, causing it to crack on the floor. In walked all _six_ people he'd asked to be there this morning. _Kakashi_ was _on time_. That hadn't happened since Obito Uchiha, Kakashi's old teammate, died.

Kakashi, blithe as ever, simply eye-smiled and said, "Hi." Naruto sweat-dropped and Hiruzen face-faulted, but Team 8 seemed oblivious that anything was out of the ordinary.

Recovering from his shock, Hiruzen bent to pick up his pipe, which he set on his desk to repair later, and smiled at his shinobi. "Thank you all for being here," he said, his kind voice sad. "Kurenai, Kiba, Shino, you three may or may not be aware of this, but Kakashi, Naruto, and Hinata here returned yesterday evening from a C-rank mission turned A-rank to the Land of Waves. However, Naruto's two teammates, Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno, were killed in the line of duty during the mission." He paused here to let that sink in. Kiba didn't sob, but he didn't hide that he was crying, either, though he did so silently; he didn't know either of Naruto's teammates well, but he still felt the loss of his former classmates and fellow shinobi. Shino, though he didn't seem to react at all, couldn't contain a single tear as it slowly fell from his eye. Even Kurenai's eyes were filled with tears.

The Hokage smiled at his shinobi. "Now, obviously, this leaves Naruto without a team. Also, I'm told that he and Hinata worked very well together on this mission and even have a weapon that they share between them." Naruto and Hinata both nodded to confirm this. "That being the case, I believe it would be best if they were on a team together."

As he'd expected, Kurenai looked upset but didn't speak, and Shino simply raised his eyebrows, but Kiba reacted rather loudly. "NO WAY!" the dog-user yelled. "THERE'S NO WAY WE'RE GOING TO LET HINATA BE SEPARATED FROM US!"

The aging Hokage smiled and laughed. "I never said she would be separated from you, Kiba," he said. "I simply said that they should be on a team together. As such, my proposition is to add Naruto to the ranks of Team 8." This mollified Kiba, and Shino seemed to accept this as well. Now it was Kurenai who looked worried.

"Lord Hokage, are you sure? I mean, I'm not sure I can effectively lead and train four Genin by myself," she said.

The old man simply smiled at her. "Who said you would be doing any such thing, Kurenai?" he asked rhetorically. "My intention is to have you _and_ Kakashi here train the four of them together. Now, do any of you have any questions or objections to this?" Hinata was too busy blushing to answer, Kiba grinned at still being on a team with Hinata, Naruto smiled at the shy girl, Shino simply shook his head, and the two Jonin shook their heads. "Good. Now, you six have work to do, I believe. You're dismissed." The six shinobi bowed to their leader and left. Once he was alone, the old Hokage sighed deeply. "I hope I did the right thing just now," he said to himself.

xxxxxx

It had been close to an hour since Hiruzen Sarutobi had joined Naruto and Kakashi with Team 8. The six shinobi had spent a few minutes talking, telling their dreams and so on, most of which they already knew, and now the four Genin had separated into pairs and were sparring while the two Jonin talked about their training schedule.

"I'd like to spend as much time as I can training Naruto," Kakashi said. "I feel like I owe it to him as his original sensei to do that, at least."

Kurenai nodded. "I understand. We should work on teamwork with all four of them together, and we should do that together, but the rest of it, I think you could work with Naruto and Hinata as a duo and I could work with Shino and Kiba."

Kakashi eye-smiled. "Yes, it seems Naruto and Hinata make quite the pair, don't they?" He looked at the red-eyed woman and held out a hand, which Kurenai shook. "I'm looking forward to working with you, Kurenai."

Kurenai blushed. "It's an honor, Kakashi." The two Jonin turned back to their students and watched as Naruto and Hinata, wielding their transforming weapon, held Kiba and Shino at bay. Kakashi sweat-dropped as he watched Naruto chasing Shino's bugs with a giant blue bug-catching net, and Kurenai had to chuckle as she watched Hinata running after Kiba while wielding a whip. Akamaru was wisely staying out of that one; he didn't want to be whipped himself.

Kakashi turned to Kurenai. "This should be quite an interesting experience, wouldn't you say?"

Kurenai smiled at the Sharingan wielder. "You have a talent for understatement, Kakashi," she said, chuckling ruefully.

A/N: First, I'm fully well aware that my story of Obito's death is not what happened in canon. Two reasons for that. One, I haven't seen the actual story of Obito's death. Two, I don't WANT that to match canon. SO DON'T TELL ME I MESSED IT UP. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed this one.


	6. The Return

A/N: AU alert! I know information in this chapter is not canon, I KNOW that, so don't bother telling me.

Chapter 6

Itachi sighed deeply, frustrated. He had spent the last several hours trying to get Kisame to divulge where his loyalties truly lay, with little success. This sigh was the first sign anyone who didn't know Itachi could have identified as a sign of his irritation with the current state of affairs. Kisame, however, had known for some time now both what Itachi was doing and that he was frustrating his partner to no end. Anyone watching the two could have told by the grin on the shark-like man's face that he was enjoying the prospect of causing the stoic Uchiha to actually _feel_ something.

"All right, Kisame, one final question and we can stop this nonsense. How would you feel about taking a trip to see the Chunin Exams?" Itachi said.

Kisame grinned. "Oh, so that's what this is all about, is it? Well, to answer the question you're not asking, Itachi, you," he said. Itachi thought about that a moment, then nodded that he understood. "And if the Chunin Exams is where you intend to be, then I will be there with you." The blue-skinned man said the last part of this with a toothy grin.

"**Ah, so it is finally time we got out of this ridiculous group, eh, Kisame?"** a voice spoke inside Kisame's mind.

"_Indeed,"_ Kisame silently responded.

"**Well, better now than _after_ they start hunting us, I suppose,"** the voice replied. Kisame silently agreed. **"And I can think of quite a few _worse_ places to be than Konoha."**

xxxxxx

Naruto smiled at Hinata. The two were taking a short break from training; they had been sparring all morning with Shape-Shifter, and now they were more than a little sweaty, and both were breathing hard. "So, Hinata, it seems the whip and the rope javelin fit you pretty well, huh?" he said.

Hinata took a deep breath. "Yes, it seems that way, doesn't it?" she answered. The two sat down beside one another, and Hinata pulled out the lunches she'd packed for both of them. "What do you think Kakashi-sensei and Kurenai-sensei are doing right now?"

Naruto chuckled. "If I know Kakashi-sensei, Kurenai-sensei is still waiting for him to show up for whatever they're planning on doing today," he said wryly.

Hinata giggled slightly, then turned to Naruto with a serious look on her face. "Naruto...are you all right? I mean...Sasuke and Sakura..." she trailed off, not sure what to say.

Naruto laid down on his back, his golden hair spread out on the grass, his head resting on his hands. "I'll be okay," he said. Hinata sat beside him, looking down into his eyes as he stared at the clouds. "It does make me wonder, though, what might happen next. I can't help but be afraid whatever's coming is going to be worse than that, somehow." As he spoke, Naruto rolled onto his side so that he could look at Hinata.

Hinata gave Naruto a comforting smile and rested a hand on his shoulder. "Whatever happens, I'll be right by your side, and we'll face it together," she said.

Naruto rested his own hand on Hinata's and smiled. "Thank you, Hinata, that means a lot to me."

xxxxxx

Kakashi and Kurenai smiled as they watched Naruto and Hinata. Kakashi groaned at Naruto's comment about his lateness. "Was I really that predictable?" he asked.

Kurenai gave him a grin. "You were late even when the _Hokage_ ordered you to be somewhere at a certain time, Kakashi. If you weren't even on time for _him_, I somehow doubt three Genin could motivate you to be on time."

Kakashi sighed. "Well, be that as it may, times are different now, and _one_ Genin is motivating me to be on time."

Kurenai smiled up at the silver-haired man. "I'm glad to see you're taking your vow to yourself seriously, Kakashi," she said. Kakashi looked at her, confused. "Well, you said before you felt like you should train Naruto yourself. I'm guessing you promised yourself you'd be more dedicated to the boy." Kakashi nodded. "I'm glad to see you're taking that promise seriously."

Kakashi smiled, though his mask hid it. "Thank you, Kurenai," he said back. "I needed to hear that, to remember that sometimes the promises you make to yourself are the most important promises of all." Kurenai rested a hand on Kakashi's arm gently. The silver-haired man turned an emotional eye on her and rested his hand on hers. The two then turned back to watching Naruto and Hinata, who were sparring with blue weapons again. At that moment, Naruto was wielding blue nunchaku while Hinata defended herself with a blue rope javelin.

Kurenai, blushing slightly from Kakashi's touch, commented, "If you take training them half as seriously as they're taking their own training, I suspect those two will become one of the most powerful Chunin squads this village has ever seen."

Kakashi smiled at her comment. "I hope you're right, Kurenai, I really do. Something tells me those two are going to need it."

xxxxxx

Kiba turned his feral grin onto Shino. The two had been sparring for over an hour now, and Kiba was almost out of chakra. Shino seemed unfazed as he stood completely still, his bugs on the ground and in the air around him. The fact was, he was almost out of chakra too, mostly from his bugs eating it to keep up the fight. He took a deep breath. "Let's take a break, Kiba."

Kiba grinned and nodded. Within a few minutes, the two were sitting together and eating. "What do you think of this whole situation, Shino?" Kiba suddenly asked. Shino looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "I mean with Naruto joining us. What do you think?"

Shino ate in silence a few moments, thinking. "I've never much cared for Naruto," he said. "However, his use of Shadow Clones will help tremendously, I think. Also, he and Hinata seem to get along well, and they apparently fight well together. Plus, he seems to be drawing her out of her shell, all of which is of benefit to our team. In short, I think if the two of us can put ourselves aside for the good of the team, Naruto's addition to our ranks will be nothing but beneficial."

Kiba sighed. "I figured you'd say something like that. I swear, though, if that knucklehead hurts Hinata, I'm going to kill him!" Shino nodded in agreement.

xxxxxx

Kakashi entered the clearing where Hinata and Naruto were sparring. Naruto was now wielding a blue sword while Hinata fended him off with a blue plank. As the Jonin watched, Hinata spun around Naruto using her incredible agility and swatted Naruto across the bottom with her weapon. Naruto leapt into the air and spun, turning a shocked gaze onto the girl. Then he grinned and ran at her, swinging his sword quickly. Hinata reacted easily, blocking each swing with the odd plank she was holding. Had Kakashi not known that the two were wielding technically the same weapon, he would have been worried; as it was, however, he wasn't concerned. After all, if an attack would cause grievous harm, the weapon would dull itself so that it would hurt but not put the two duelers in any serious danger.

"Yo, Naruto!" Kakashi called out. The blond jumped slightly, then turned a grin onto his sensei. "You two seem to be having fun. I could leave you to it, but I thought you two might want to get some actual training in," the Jonin teased.

Kakashi wasn't surprised when the two Genin looked eager at the mention of training, but he was surprised when they both suddenly turned away from one another and blushed deeply. "Well, damn it! He just had to show up just when the two of you were about to do something about all this Unresolved Sexual Tension between you, didn't he?" Shape-Shifter had said, causing said blush. Kakashi shrugged it off and continued.

"All right, you two, let's get this started," he said. He was pleased when Naruto and Hinata both entered fighting stances as soon as he had finished saying this. Naruto, to his surprise, morphed Shape-Shifter into a set of nunchaku while Hinata morphed her version of the weapon into a bow and several arrows. "Oh, nunchaku huh? Are you trying to learn to use those, Naruto?"

Naruto grinned. "Yeah, they seem to fit me well, so I figured I might as well get good with them," he said.

"I may just know someone who can help you out with that," Kakashi told him, glad his mask hid his evil grin at that moment. Naruto perked up. "But he'll train you into the ground," the masked Jonin warned. Surprising his sensei, Naruto looked even more eager after that. "All right then, I'll let him know to expect you tomorrow. They meet at four in the morning at training ground nine." Naruto grinned even wider, then turned questioning eyes onto Hinata, who nodded; they'd both be there.

Shape-Shifter chuckled. "I get the feeling I know who he means," the weapon commented. Naruto and Hinata turned questioning looks on it. "I can sense weapon-users, remember? The one you call Guy uses nunchaku." He paused a moment. "And I believe the one who trained you before—Tenten was it?—is proficient with a bow as well, so I think she could help you with that, Hinata. This arrangement should be of great benefit to us all." Naruto and Hinata both nodded, then turned back to Kakashi.

"Guy-sensei, huh?" Naruto asked. Kakashi looked surprised, then nodded. "All right, then, what time should we meet with you and Kurenai-sensei tomorrow?"

Kakashi looked up at the sun as if he were considering Naruto's question. "I think she said she was going to meet up with Kiba and Shino around eight, so let's give them an hour and meet up with them at nine for team training, how's that sound?" he said; in truth, he and Kurenai had discussed this very thing previously, but he wasn't about to tell _them_ that.

Naruto gave his sensei a knowing look, then grinned. "Guess you'll have to really train us hard after the team part tomorrow, huh, Kakashi-sensei?" he said. "Don't want to let Guy get the better of you."

Kakashi opened his mouth to say something, then closed it. _"Damn it, Naruto, how did you figure _that_ one out?"_ he thought. For the second time in as many minutes, he was glad he was wearing his mask. He turned an eye-smile onto Naruto and Hinata. "Oh, don't worry, Naruto, there's no way Guy's training will be anywhere near as tough as mine," he said in a tone of voice that sent chills up both Genins' spines. "For now, though, how about you let me see just how good you two are with those weapons?"

Naruto and Hinata turned and grinned at one another, then turned and ran at Kakashi, blunted weapons leading. So began the most strenuous spar of Kakashi's life.

xxxxxx

While Kakashi was enduring the attacks of Naruto and Hinata, Kurenai was meeting with the other two members of their new team. Kiba and Shino had just finished eating and were about to go back to sparring while they waited for Kurenai, but she got there before they could.

"It's about time you got here, Kurenai-sensei," Kiba said with a feral grin. "I was about to kick Shino's ass some more." Shino adjusted his glasses at this comment, a sure sign of his annoyance to anyone who knew him well. Kiba gave him a less feral grin to let him know he was just kidding. Shino accepted that, muttering something about Kiba being "too illogical" for his tastes.

Kurenai chuckled. "I'm glad to see you two are back to your old selves so soon," she commented.

"Why wouldn't we be?" Kiba asked.

Surprisingly, Shino agreed. "There is no reason for us to be in mourning. Sasuke and Sakura were not our friends, so their deaths meant little to us. Despite them being comrades of the Leaf, it is illogical for us to mourn those with whom we were not close," he said in his usual monotone.

Kurenai shook her head. "No, I meant with Naruto being added to our team. I know it seems like we're losing Hinata, but we're not, we're gaining Naruto," she clarified.

Kiba shrugged. "We've both known for a long time Hinata's had a crush on Naruto. We agreed earlier that as long as she's happy, we will be, too, but if that knucklehead hurts her, his ass is meat," he said, the feral look in his eye returning as he spoke of Naruto hurting Hinata.

Kurenai smiled at the two. "I'm proud of you two. It is always important to protect a teammate," she said. Kiba grinned proudly at that, and Shino adjusted his glasses, seeming pleased with himself this time. "That said, though, if Hinata gets hurt physically during a spar with Naruto, I don't want to see you two getting mad and attacking him."

"Of course not," Shino answered. "It is to be expected that injuries will occur during a spar. We referred to him hurting her emotionally, not physically. Besides, Naruto would never maliciously attack Hinata, we both know that." Kiba nodded.

Kurenai nodded. "Good. Then I'm proud of you both, just don't take things too far." Both boys nodded. "All right, now, I want to see how well you two work together without Hinata, so, both of you, come at me."

Kiba was the first to move after Kurenai's order, but Shino soon joined him in sparring with their sensei. It didn't take long for Kurenai to defeat both of them, naturally, but, she had to admit, she was impressed with how well they worked together.

xxxxxx

Hiruzen tapped the bowl of his pipe on his desk. He wasn't really doing anything with it, the tapping was simply an old habit he fell into whenever he was thinking hard about something. At the moment, he was thinking about the addition he had recently made to Team Eight. He took a deep breath and was just picking up one of the many sheets of paper on his desk when a knock sounded at his door.

Sighing, the old man simply said, "Come in." The door opened and Hiashi Hyuga stormed in, closing it behind him. "Ah, Hiashi, what can I do for you?"

Hiashi glared at the Hokage. "I need to speak with you, in private," he said. Hiruzen nodded and, with a slight hand sign, dismissed the ANBU who were hiding in the office; they vanished, and Hiruzen made another hand sign, this one to activate the silencing seals in the room. Satisfied their conversation would remain confidential, Hiashi began. "There are rumors going around the village that my daughter's team has gained a new member, the Uzumaki boy."

"Yes, it's true, Hiashi, Naruto has been added to Team Eight. His own two teammates were killed in action, so I added Naruto and his sensei, Kakashi, to the ranks of Team Eight," Hiruzen said, matching Hiashi's glare with one of his own, daring the Hyuga to defy him.

Hiashi thought a moment. "All right," he said quietly. "I won't force the issue, so long as the interaction between Hinata and the Uzumaki is kept to a minimum." That said, he turned and left the Hokage's office.

Hiruzen chuckled. _"What Hiashi doesn't know, won't hurt anyone,"_ he thought to himself. He was about to return to his paperwork when another knock sounded, this one quieter and in a pattern. _"The ANBU knock?"_ he thought. _"What in the world could this be?"_ "Come in," he said. The door opened again, and this time Itachi Uchiha and a tall, blue-skinned man who was unfamiliar to Hiruzen entered the office. Hiruzen dropped his pipe, which landed on the floor, in his shock. "Itachi Uchiha," he said, his voice making his surprise obvious. "What in the world are _you_ doing here?"


	7. A New Mission

Chapter 7

Naruto sighed. He hadn't slept well the last few nights. Every night, he had the same dream. Every night, in his sleep, he relived his old teammates' deaths. He saw the shards of metal flying from Zabuza's shattered sword and embedding in their necks. He saw it all in slow motion, yet there was nothing he could do about it. This was the third day running he'd woken up in a cold sweat from yet again seeing his friends die. He sighed again.

Getting up, Naruto got himself ready to face the day. Dressing in his normal orange-and-blue jumpsuit and black shirt, Naruto threw Shape-Shifter over his shoulder on his way out his apartment door. "You're in a mood," the weapon commented idly.

"Yeah, well, that tends to happen when you only get like three hours of sleep in a night," Naruto snapped back.

"Whoa, chill out, man, I didn't do it," came the response.

Naruto sighed for the third time since waking up. "I know, I'm sorry," he said contritely. "I just haven't been sleeping well for a while now, it's got me stressed out."

The weapon, which was currently in its short sword form, chuckled. "Given the shit you've seen, I'm surprised you're not some cold-blooded killer by now," he told Naruto. Naruto just sighed deeply; the sword's words had reminded him just _how close_ he had come at one time to being exactly that. Reading the boy's thoughts, as always, the sword sighed. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I just mean I would get it if you had gone nuts. But seriously, you're a good kid, and I'm proud to have you as my wielder."

Naruto blushed slightly and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Thanks, Shape-Shifter," he said. "That may be the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me."

Shape-Shifter chuckled. "Other than Hinata, you mean?" he asked rhetorically. Naruto chuckled at that; the weapon had a point, after all. Shape-Shifter rolled his eye. "You are such a dork sometimes, you know that?"

Naruto shrugged. "I'm also dating the hottest girl in the village, so I don't really care what you call me," he told the sword flippantly.

Shape-Shifter chuckled in response to that. "I can't really deny that one," he said back. "What the blazes you saw in that pink-haired girl, I'll _never_ know!" Naruto sharply drew in his breath between his teeth, letting the weapon know that was _not_ the right thing to say; Naruto didn't like to show it, but the scars left by his teammates' deaths were still sore and raw. "Well, I'm sorry, but really, come on, all she ever did was yell and beat you, and she sure as hell never had eyes for you, just for that prick Sasuke. You're better off without her."

Naruto sighed. "I have to agree with you, but still, could you be just a _little_ sensitive about it? I may realize now that I'm better off with Hinata than I would have been with Sakura, but she was still my teammate, and it still hurts that she's gone," he told the weapon.

"All right, all right," Shape-Shifter answered. "I can take a hint. I'm glad you realize you're better off now, though." The weapon did its approximation of a sigh, then continued, "And I can tell you right now, there's no way in _hell_ I would have let that pink-haired banshee wield me! Her voice alone would have driven me nuts...and I don't even want to _think_ about what being in her mind would have been like!" The weapon shivered in fear at the thought.

Naruto chuckled. "Yeah, Sakura did always seem to be of two minds, so I can sympathize with you there," he commented. "Come on, Hinata, Kiba, and Shino are probably waiting for us. Kurenai-sensei's probably there by now, too...though I doubt Kakashi-sensei is yet."

Shape-Shifter chuckled back. "Regardless, let's get there. Maybe if you wear yourself out training and stuff you'll sleep better tonight," the weapon said.

Naruto nodded; it was as good an idea as any, so the blond picked up the pace a bit and arrived at the training ground within minutes. Naruto was right about Kurenai and her team, they were all there. He was wrong about the other thing, though. To his shock, Kakashi was there with Kurenai, helping to train Team 8. Naruto froze on the edge of the clearing, one hand out in front of him slightly, pointing at Kakashi as his jaw dropped.

Kurenai, seeing Naruto after a moment, chuckled at the look of shock on her co-sensei's student's face. She got Kakashi's attention and pointed out Naruto's presence silently. Kakashi, seeing the shock on the blond's face, sighed and made his way over to Naruto. "Glad to see you decided to join us, Naruto," he said in his usual blasé manner. Naruto sputtered, trying to respond, but between his sleepless nights of late and this shock, his mind had shut down on him.

Kakashi chuckled and, resting a hand on Naruto's shoulder, directed the blond toward the rest of his new team. Hinata, seeing Naruto sputtering, giggled slightly. She came up to him, cupped one of his cheeks in her hand gently, and looked into his eyes. Naruto's gaze, which had been somewhat glassy from shock, finally seemed to focus again. Seeing Hinata in front of him, he smiled. "Good morning, beautiful," he said teasingly. Hinata, naturally, blushed and backed away from Naruto, fidgeting in embarrassment.

Kakashi shook his head. _"Ah, young love,"_ he thought to himself, thinking at the same time about him and Rin, back when she was alive. Sighing deeply as he always did when he thought of her, he turned to his team. "All right, team," he said, getting everyone's attention. "Now that we're all here, let's get to work, shall we?"

Kurenai moved to stand by Kakashi. Kakashi continued to address the four students. "Kurenai and I have spent the last few days considering a good training regimen for you four," the masked Jonin continued. "Starting today, we're going to meet right here every morning at seven. Your time in the morning before that is yours to do individual training or whatever you need to do. From seven to ten, we'll do team exercises here. Starting at ten, we'll divide you into groups of two and each of us will train two of you. This will last until noon. At noon, we'll all meet up somewhere for lunch. After lunch, we'll do a few missions each day, ending not before three but not after six. What you do after six is up to you." Naruto was watching Kakashi closely throughout his speech, half-expecting the man to burst into smoke or something. Kakashi finished, "This regimen will last for two weeks, after which we'll meet like this again and come up with a new regimen for you all. The main goal of this first regimen is to strengthen you as a team and to bring you into better cooperation with one another." The team nodded.

Kurenai spoke up then. "I have...a request," she said hesitantly. Everyone turned their attention on the rookie Jonin curiously. Kurenai sighed. "When I was a Chunin, a few years ago, I was assigned to care for and teach a young girl. Her name was Yakumo. Yakumo Kurama. She was a frail girl, about Hinata's size, whose only real strength was her genjutsu. Unfortunately, it was also her curse. Her power was so strong, she couldn't control it. I tried my best to help her gain control over her power, but I just couldn't do it. It was too strong. Eventually, I went to the Hokage, and he and I sealed her power away. It hurt the girl deeply, she had wanted so badly to be a ninja, but it was for her own good, if she ever really lost it, she could have hurt or even killed everyone in the village, including herself."

Kurenai sighed again, the pain clear in her eyes, before continuing, "Unfortunately, sealing her power away like that led to the creation of an entity within her...this happens in rare instances within her clan, and the creature is called an Id. The Hokage has been keeping watch over the girl, and we fear that, if something isn't done soon, her Id will take control of her. Neither of us wants to even contemplate what would happen in that case. So, the Hokage summoned me yesterday to ask me to do something about the situation." Kurenai turned to each of her students, who were all staring at her in shock now. "My request is for you all to help me with this this afternoon. It will count as a B-rank mission for you all, if you choose to accept it."

Naruto was the first to speak. "Of course we're going to help you, Kurenai-sensei!" he declared.

Kiba nodded. "Yeah, right, you're part of our pack, there's no way we'd abandon you!" he said.

Shino nodded as well. "It is only logical for us to help our sensei as she would help us were the situation reversed," he commented in his normal monotone.

Hinata stepped forward and gently took Kurenai's hand. "We're with you, Sensei," she said simply.

Kurenai smiled, tears in her eyes as she looked at her team. "You really shouldn't do this," she told them. "It's going to be incredibly dangerous. Yakumo's powers are intense."

Naruto snorted. "Like we'd say no to a dangerous mission that will let us prove ourselves! Right, Kiba?"

Kiba laughed. "Took the words right out of my mouth, Naruto!"

Shino nodded again. "As I said, it is only logical for us to stick with you, Sensei."

Hinata squeezed Kurenai's hand gently. "You're not going to get rid of us, Kurenai-sensei, so you might as well get used to it."

Kakashi stepped up behind Kurenai and rested a hand on her shoulder gently. "I'm with you, too, Kurenai," he said softly.

Kurenai looked up at the silver-haired man and smiled gently. Squeezing Hinata's hand in return and resting her free hand on Kakashi's, she said quietly, "Thank you, thank you all."

"Come on, let's get training!" Naruto said. "We've got a hard day ahead of us, so we better get ready!" With that, the moment was broken, and the six ninja got to work; Naruto was right, after all: they did have a hard day ahead of them.

xxxxxx

It took some finagling, but Naruto had eventually agreed that they shouldn't eat at Ichiraku on their first lunch together as a team. They had eventually gone to a nearby barbecue restaurant, where, to Naruto's surprise, Kiba had ordered a huge slab of steak of all things. Since everyone was paying for him or herself, though, he didn't complain. Kakashi, Kurenai, Hinata, and Shino had ended up at one table, while Kiba and Naruto had taken another nearby. While they were waiting for their food, Kiba decided this was the best chance he'd likely get. "Hey, Naruto," he said after a moment.

Naruto looked up at the feral boy in surprise. "Yeah?"

Kiba looked over at their teammates and sighed a bit. Naruto raised an eyebrow at the boy. "I know I never had a chance, but still, I always saw you as my rival, Naruto," Kiba confided.

Naruto looked surprised. "Me? Why would you see _me_ as a rival?" he asked.

Kiba sighed again. "I know it was stupid and pointless...I just always liked Hinata...but she only ever had eyes for you."

Naruto nodded slowly. "I know how that is...I just wish someone had told me sooner that she liked me." The blond sighed deeply. "Then I wouldn't have had to find out when I thought she was dying."

Kiba cringed; he hadn't heard _that_ part of what happened in the Land of Waves. "But you know," Kiba continued, "I think I see now what Hinata's seen in you all along. You're a good friend, Naruto, and I think I can trust you to take care of Hinata."

Naruto chuckled a little. "Well, sure I'll take care of her, but why are you saying it like that, Kiba? It almost sounds like you're leaving us or something."

Kiba shook his head. "Nah, nothing like that, I have no intention of going anywhere any time soon, and if you ever hurt her, I will skin you alive, believe you me. Still, it's good to know I can trust you with her." Kiba extended a hand to the blond, who shook it hesitantly. "Friends," Kiba declared.

Naruto smiled and nodded. "Friends," he said back. Then, he added, "Thanks, Kiba."

Kiba looked at him. "What are you thanking me for, Naruto?" he asked.

Naruto smiled. "For saying that, and for reminding me that even when bad things happen to us, we still have our friends, and they'll always be there for us. It's my friends that keep me going, and it's them I fight for, and you just reminded me of that. So...yeah, thanks."

Kiba smiled. "Sure thing, Naruto," he said. He thought a minute, then added, "I need to talk to Hinata...sorry, Naruto, I'll see you on the mission, okay?"

Naruto nodded and waved him off. "It's fine, we have plenty of time," he said. "Just don't try to steal her from me." Naruto winked at this to let Kiba know he was kidding.

Kiba just chuckled and shook his head as he made his way over to the table where their other teammates were. He bent down and whispered to Shino, "I need to talk to Hinata a minute, would you mind sitting with Naruto for a while?"

Shino rose. "Sure, go for it, Kiba," he said back softly, then made his way over to sit with Naruto.

Kiba sat down beside Kurenai and across from Hinata. Just as he did, the food was delivered to both tables, distracting everyone for a few moments. Once everything settled down again, Kiba addressed Hinata. "Hinata, there's something I need to talk to you about," he said. Hinata nodded, her pale eyes curious. "I've been thinking about this for a while now, and I would like you to be Akamaru's godmother." As he said this, the white puppy in question gave forth a small yip of approval from atop the boy's head. Hinata would have sworn Akamaru was smiling at her.

"You want me to be his godmother?" she asked. Kiba nodded. "Why?"

Kiba sighed. "I know I can trust you to take care of him if anything ever happens to me, that's all," he said back. "Plus, you two are already pretty close, so I wouldn't be surprised if he bonded to you if something ever _did_ happen to me." Hinata thought about that for a moment, then nodded, acknowledging the boy's point. "So, do you accept?" Kiba asked.

Hinata blushed slightly. The young girl thought back to all the memories she had with the small white puppy. She remembered their first meeting, the first day they were on the same team, the first time Kiba had allowed her to give the puppy a treat. She remembered the missions they had completed together and thought of all the good times they were sure to have together in the future, then smiled at Kiba. "I would be honored, Kiba," she said back. Kiba grinned and pumped his fist into the air; Akamaru gave another happy yip and a puppy smile to Hinata. Hinata giggled and cut a small piece off her meat, which she flipped to Akamaru. The puppy caught and ate it quickly. Kiba chuckled at them both. The team finished eating the rest of their lunch in companionable silence.

xxxxxx

The Third Hokage looked up as Kakashi, Kurenai, and their team entered his office. "What can I do for you today?" he asked them.

"Lord Hokage," Kurenai said softly. "I have explained the circumstances surrounding Yakumo to my team, and they are all willing to assist me in dealing with the situation."

Hiruzen nodded and took a long drag on his pipe. "I'm glad you each have such a strong Will of Fire within you," he told them. "You are all hereby assigned a B-rank mission to make contact with Yakumo Kurama and do what is necessary to prevent her from becoming a threat to the Hidden Leaf Village. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Lord Hokage!" the six ninja in the Hokage's office said together.

"All right then," he responded. "Dismissed!" At his words, the six ninja disappeared from his office. They had their mission. They had the will to complete it. But did they have the ability?

Author Note: I know this one was a bit shorter, but I've honestly been having a lot of trouble writing this chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it anyway. I'll try to get my next update out sooner than this one; for those of you who follow all my stories, the next one to be updated is Double Take.


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